Seriously, It's Just A Fling
by The Poet's Muse
Summary: Meet Katherine. She's happy and doesn't have many problems in her life. Until her seventh year, when the past comes to haunt her and new friends make her question her future. And what will happen when she "isn't" involved with the school playboy? SBOC
1. Fish In The Sea? Birds Of A Feather?

Katherine Keaton looked at the letter and sighed sadly. It had been a week since she had gotten it, and a week since her mother had flat-out refused to let her go. Didn't she understand? This explained everything about her that was so strange, why she was the school's freak and why she broke her mother's favorite china cup, without touching it, when she told her that she couldn't go. But the cup incident is the reason that she was in her room right now, grounded, and staring at the piece of parchment that was beginning to wear on the creases that she kept folding and unfolding. Finally deciding not to dream anymore, she folded the letter up 'for the last time' (as she had been telling herself for five days now) and carefully placed it in the small drawer of her night-table.

Rolling over, her dark-brown eyes stared out the window at the perfectly manicured lawns and perfectly groomed people. Why, oh why, had her mother chosen to move to this desolate suburb? The people were fake, their smiles were half-hearted, their families were only there for show. They didn't belong here, her especially. She didn't belong in a school with those prats, whose only concern seemed to be humiliating her and others that they found below themselves. She had tried to explain that to her mother, but of course she didn't listen. She would just have to suffer through years of boarding school with said prats and fake smilers until she graduated and had to get a job and work with them instead.

There was a knock at the door; Katherine simply grunted a response. The door opened and her older brother walked in.

"Y'okay, kid?" He asked as he sat on the foot of her bed.

"What do you think?" She asked in a monotone voice.

"Don't let it get you down, I'll talk to her, we can figure something out."

"What is there to figure out? She's not going to let me go."

"I said I'll take care of it."

"Fine, but I really don't see what you're hoping to accomplish here, Jake."

"I got to go, dad went," He ruffled her hair, like her father did when she was little, before he died, before she could remember. "I'll make sure you get to go."

"You went?" She looked at him with her big brown eyes full of hope, wonder and confusion. "How come I can't remember?"

"You were born when I was in my second year, you were only five when I graduated, so it makes sense that you wouldn't remember."

"Wow."

"Yeah, it's pretty amazing to some people. Got to go, kid, work and all that."

He got to his feet and checked his wrist watch. They said their good-byes and farewells and he went back down the stairs, presumably to talk her mother into allowing her to go to the school of her dreams.

Katherine resisted the urge to look at the letter again; she had it memorized anyhow. She rolled over and fell into a deep sleep. There, she dreamt that she was flying. Someone's hands were holding her as she flew over the clouds and below the stars. She looked up and saw the face of a man that she knew; though at the same time she didn't. She had his coloring, his brown eyes and dark-chestnut hair, as well as his slightly bronzed skin. He looked down at her and smiled.

"_See, Lovey? Flying isn't so bad, is it?"_

She was about to say something - to tell him that he was right, that she was having the time of her life, that she missed him so much - but the image started to fade away. She started to call out to him, but he couldn't hear her as he slowly faded to black.

She shot up-right in bed and searched the room frantically with those eyes.

"Father." She whispered. "I'm going to learn to fly someday. I'm going to Hogwarts. You'll see."

It was six years later, and she was standing on the platform for the...thirteenth time? Just about. This time she was alone, Jake had an important job thing to go to and her mom was busy acting like her daughter went to some snobby muggle boarding school.

She gathered her courage and stepped through the barrier, holding her head high. On the other side she saw another platform and the Hogwarts Express (and once again she wondered how such wizarding geniuses couldn't come up with a better name for the steam-engine). This platform was different then the last though; there was more excitement in the air, some sort of electricity, almost...magical.

She smiled for the first time since June. This beautiful (though poorly named) train was going to take her to the best place on earth. She mentally cheered for Hogwarts. (Hurrah!)

"Kate!" Someone called from across the way. "Kate!" She ignored it again. "Katherine Faith Keaton! Get over here!" Katherine turned toward the voice and almost laughed out loud when she saw her best friend, Lily Evans, pushing and elbowing her way through the crowd.

"Hey Lily." Katherine said once they met up. She was going to ask her how her summer was but she was cut-off by a very tight hug.

"Oh, Katie, it's wonderful to see you again! Absolutely marvelous! I've amazing news, oh you'll never guess, but try anyway!" She sputtered.

"Umm...some bloke finally announced their undying love for you and now you're engaged?"

"No, silly! I'm head girl! Can you imagine? Isn't it exciting?" She almost squealed in delight. "The only problem is that we won't get to ride together on the way to school, because of my new duties."

"And we won't be able to hang out as much this year because of said duties." Katie said dryly. "And your charms club, and my extra studies. Don't worry about it, Lils, there's plenty of other...fish in the sea? Birds of a feather?" She smirked as she received a light punch in the arm. "Fine, fine, I forgive you. It's not like you're the only person on the planet that I can hang out with, right?"

The whistle blew and the two girls scrambled to grab their things, say their good-byes, and go in their separate directions.

Kate was looking for a compartment, but they were all just about full, or the empty seats were saved. She would have preferred to sit alone, but knew that wasn't going to happen any time soon. She looked in another compartment, this one was full of giggling third year girls. They seriously made her want to gag. Who could giggle that much? _What_ on this green earth was _that_ funny? Nothing, that's what.

She was down to the last three. Boisterous laugher and very loud cursing (of the non-magical kind) could be heard coming from the ones further back, but the closest one seemed pretty quiet. She took a chance and slid the door open.

Her eyes fell on a pudgy boy with small watery eyes and thin hair. She knew that he was in her house, probably her year too, but she couldn't remember her name. Katherine was horrible with names. She thought it was Patrick Piddlediddle or something like that, but it didn't really sound right. Maybe it was Percivel?...No.

"Hey," She said once she became tired of the staring, "can I sit here?"

He just looked at her as a rabbit would while being swooped down upon by a hawk. She felt her irritation rising. She disliked having people stare at her, and she hated it when people ignored her questions. Her fists clenched. She was about to open her mouth to give him a sound verbal thrashing, but...

"I think she asked you a question, Pete." A semi-familiar voice said from behind her left shoulder. (Peter! His name was Peter Pettigrew!) "Best not to keep a lady waiting." Peter looked past her expectantly, begging with his eyes for help of some kind from the disembodied voice.

She heard the voice sigh at the awkward silence that ensued. Kate was about to leave, but when she turned she noticed two boys were blocking her way. It was none other then Sirius Black and his friend, Remus Lupin. She found it rather amusing that she knew their names right off.

"You're in my way." She said rather bluntly. It was the first day, her best friend was elsewhere coddling first-years with home-sickness, some creep kept staring at her, her cats were mewling pathetically from their basket and she just knew that there was something that was going to surprise her (probably in a bad way) once she got to school. Katherine was _not_ in a good mood.

"Way to state the obvious." Black said as he arrogantly rolled his eyes.

"You can sit with us." Lupin chimed as he saw her giving his friend a glare that would rival that of Lysander when Dimitrius was still in love with Hermia (A Midsummer Night's Dream...Shakespeare). "There's loads of room, right Padfoot?" He looked over to his friend, almost silently asking for approval. Once Black nodded they all moved into the compartment and tried to store their luggage in the already moving train.

Katherine sat down and lifted the lid off the basket to peer inside. Her two tabby cats looked at her with big yellow-green eyes and started to mew pathetically once again. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a small bag of cat treats. After tossing the kitties their snack, she closed the lid and saw Pettigrew staring at her. She was about to saw something, but was, once again, interrupted.

"Don't mind Peter, he's just a bit...ah...edgy around new people." Lupin said softly.

"Please," Sirius barked out a laugh, "Wormtail only gets this weird around one certain person and-"

"How was your summer, Keaton?" Lupin interrupted.

"Fine...you guys?" She was confused.

Apparently, Lupin has some kind of "furry little problem" that Katherine really didn't want to know about, (but that could just be her dirty mind) Pettigrew can't speak in coherent sentences and Black ran away from his pure-blood-muggle-borns-must-die family and went to Potter's place. Oh, and Potter has somehow managed to become head-boy and that was why he wasn't in the compartment with them. Katherine could just hear Lily's rants about that one. In fact, she thought she could almost hear her yelling at him from where she was seated right now.


	2. I Do Realize That I Have No Choice

Sirius knew he was going to sound crazy if he ever said it out-loud; he also knew that he would probably end up with a black-eye and a fat lip. But he really couldn't help it, though he hated to admit it. He found her appealing. There, he thought it consciously.

He knew he was what some might consider 'promiscuous', he just noticed how many beautiful women there were out there and wanted to show them what he thought of them. It's not like he didn't keep on good terms with all of them after the fact, not that he did _that_ with every girl.

Keaton wasn't a skinny little twig that would break in two in the middle of...yeah, _that_, but she wasn't too large either. Her curves were anything but subtle, yet still masterfully hidden beneath baggier clothes. (Once again, Sirius wished that their school uniform was like those muggle boarding schools, with the short skirts and the knees socks, instead of robes. It really was far more practical.) Her lovely oval face had that lovely nose with a very slight bump in the middle and (unlike most girls at Hogwarts) didn't turn up at the end. Her eyes and her lips were what killed him though. Together, they gave away her every emotion. Her lips were slightly plump, but they managed to not take over her entire face, and her eyes were like looking into a vat of creamy chocolate. He had never craved the substance until he stared into their depths. And when she laughed, as she often did at his jokes, her whole face lit up. Top it all off with that waterfall of silky, dark brown hair and you've just visualized Sirius' dream woman...this week's anyway.

That said, he wondered why he hadn't noticed her before. Maybe it as because she was always right there. For the past six yeas they were in the same house, had most of the same classes. Of course, he always thought that she was a bit stuck up, and that might have something to do with it, not that he was proven wrong yet, but she seemed to have many facets.

Her whole attitude on the train was so distant and calm, almost snobby, but she was still approachable. She reminded him of a cat, really. He almost laughed once he realized how well it matched her name. Katherine, Kat. Keaton, Kitten. He found himself quite clever. He found himself quite everything, actually. He was Sirius Black, and he was damn fine.

It was the end of the train ride (Katherine praised whatever divine being there may or may not be in a place that may or may not exist). Everyone was looking for things; books, food, money, clothes (Black decided that he was _damn fine_ and wanted to show Kate his "manly muscles" by removing his shirt...and then losing it. What he really wanted to do was get her all hot and bothered. It was not _entirely_ unthinkable, but still rather disturbing.)

Once everyone finally gathered their things and made their way off the train, Kate could hear a very familiar shrieking.

"Kate!" Lily was going crazy, which was not entirely unusual, but it was more often closer to exam time. "Oh, Kate, my wonderful, understanding, sane friend Kate!"

"What's wrong with you?" Kate asked her friend, who might possibly be high. Since when was she ever called sane? By Lily of all people!

"Potter's head boy and I need to rant. You'll let me, won't you?"

"I do realize that I have no choice." It amazed some people that Katherine could be so stoic one moment, then completely, insanely, hyper the next. They were even more amazed that she didn't have a personality disorder. Well, not one that has been diagnosed as of yet.

Lily opened her mouth and was about to start on her little rant about a certain Potter, when Black took Kate's hand and kissed it.

"What th-"

"Thank you for the wonderful train ride, Kitten." He smirked at her.

"Kitten?"

"Suits you, don't you think?" He then dropped her hand and walked away.

"Um...what was that all about?" Lily asked, confusion written all over her face.

"I have no clue."

"Well, I must congratulate you on being on just about every present girls' hit list."

"--And then he had the nerve to _wink_ at me. Can you imagine? After what he had just said? The nerve of that boy..." Lily ranted on and on _and on_ about Potter's big headed-ness and all that wonderful what-not. Though, personally, Kate was quite certain that she was only hiding her growing attraction for the "arrogant, self-centered, egotistical toe-rag!" But, it wasn't like she had anything better to do then to pretend to listen to her.

Everyone in the Great Hall was chatting happily about their vacations and their families, about quittich or football (which left the wizard-borns completely confused). The first-years were looking around nervously, trying to make friends in their new houses. And some girls were talking about some tramp that had moved in on their man. Katherine paid them no mind, as they were the members of the unofficial Sirius Black fanclub, and they were talking about her.

Odd wasn't it? Last year, she would not have given the guy a second glance, or any guy for that matter, and everyone knew it. Having her flirt (unknowingly) with your boyfriend meant nothing in those days. Now, one innocent kiss on the hand and she was pregnant with Sirius Black's child, twins some said. If they were going to start rumors about her they should at least make them with someone more suited to her...and probably more believable. _Twins_ for Merlin's sake.

The hall silenced and Katherine turned to the front. The Head Master was about to make his speech; excellent entertainment.

"Greetings new students, and a welcome back to the old ones." Dumbledore said. "I hope you all had some fun during your vacations and are ready to put your nose to the grind-stone, as it were, in your studies. As it is, I must remind all students that the forbidden forest is, actually, forbidden, and that Mr. Filch has posted a revised list of all items banned from school property." He gave Black a look. "Some of you might want to take a look at it."

Katherine took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

Suddenly, the doors to the Great Hall opened and a man walked in. He was in his late twenties with dark-brown hair and milk-chocolate eyes. He was tall, with an even, confident gate as he walked between the tables toward the Head-Master. He shook Dunbledore's hand and apologized for being late.

Through all of this, Katherine's eyes went wide, her pumpkin juice could not be swallowed.

"I would like to introduce to everyone the new professor of defense against the dark arts, Jacob Hood."

The juice was spewed all over the table, and Lily.

"What the hell, Jake!?"

Everyone in the Great Hall started whispering to their neighbors. The girl that was stealing Sirius Black was already rumored to have had a fling with the new DADA professor, who was not all hat bad to look at himself, and dinner hadn't even started yet.

Another mark against her. She could already tell that this year was going to be quite interesting.

However _fine_ he might be, Sirius' plan had backfired. When he took her hand he had not expected it to be so cold yet comforting at the same time. When he kissed it, he had not imagined that it would smell so inticing and taste so sweet. He never assumed that such brief contact would make him want to see if all of her skin smelled and tasted the same.

Right now, it was the first class of the term, potions. Sirius was never extremely fond of Slughorn, he picked too many favorites. Sure, he had tried to recruit Sirius into his little club, but he had finished that soon after he blew up his first toilet. Those were the days.

He knew without looking that James was staring at Evans with the same look that a tiny lost puppy might have, because he always did this. He also knew that Evans and Keaton were sitting in front of a very empty desk and that he and James were going to sit there, because James was obsessed beyond the point of reason.

"Good, good." Slughorn started, he seemed to have a thing for repeating himself. "For the next few classes we'll be brewing a potion that some experts can't even hope to achieve perfection with on their own. This is why you'll be working in teams of two. One of you are to turn to page-" A knock at the door interrupted him. Professor McGonagall walked in.

"The headmaster would like to see Miss Evans and Mister Potter." McGonagall said crisply.

"Of course, Professor. You two will just have to be a team then. Now, Black, you move up here with Miss Keaton and you two can get to work. As I was saying, one person turn to page three-hundred-and-ninety-four. The other will get the ingredients from the store cupboard. Begin."

"Hey there, Kitten." He said as he sat beside her. "How've you been?"

"Just fine and freaking dandy since yesterday." She said snippily. He gave her a slightly (fake) hurt look and she decided to tone it down. "I just wish he'd have told me this was all going to happen."

"Ah, yes. And how do you know our dear Professor Hood?" He was saying everything with a joking air, it helped him to ignore the death glares everyone in the room seemed to be sending either Keaton or himself.

"You mean you haven't heard?" She hard a flare for cynical sarcasm. "The darling Professor and I had a torrent love affair over the summer, but it didn't last. He left me without so much as a 'farewell' and now he's shown up here, my one true fortress of solitude, before my heart had time to heal." She looked him straight in eye, her own brown orbs filled with amusement. "It's a very painful experience, you know."

Sirius let out a bark-like laugh.

"Everyone else says that I'm going to walk into class on the first day, pull out my wand and say something like "My name is Katherine Keaton. You killed my sister. Prepare to die." And then have the class end in a gory duel to the death."

By now, he was roaring with laughter, and the other students were starting to wonder what she had hexed him with.

"Black, Keaton, perhaps detention tonight would help to refresh your memories as to why you are both here. Be at my office door at six o'clock."

"Yessir." They both mumbled.

Almost an hour later, they had a cauldron full of the most unattractive goo that had a color reminiscent to that of a pile of meat that has been left out for a week, about the same odor too. But the text said that's what it was supposed to look like, so they weren't complaining too loudly.

"What's the true story?" He finally asked.

"You know, you're the first person to actually ask me." She looked surprised, though still amused, and amazingly smug. "I'm not going to tell you." She whispered.

"Why not?" He must say that he was a bit disappointed.

"You'll find out soon enough, everyone will, I just want to see how far people go with these rumors." She winked at him. "And everyone said I was such a little angel. At least they'll have the comfort of knowing that the pregnancy was never there." She paused for a moment to ponder something. "Or maybe I had an abortion."

'_Hm,' Sirius thought, 'wonder what she's talking about.'_


	3. The Tutus Really Add Drama

Okay, chapter three! Is everyone excited for this one? You should be! (Ahaha, now to dash your hopes! Just kidding.) Just to clarify, Katherine will be referred to as Katherine, Katie, Kate, Kitten, and Keaton occasionally. I don't want anyone to be confused and wonder where all of these characters came from. Happy reading! (And if you have any questions, concerns or comments, feel free to review at the end of the program. Thank you, and have a nice day!)

"Come on, Kitten, we haven't got all day." Black said from the entrance hall as she descended the staircase.

"I believe you mean 'all night', Black." She enjoyed the scathing looks that a group of sixth year girls gave her on their way to the dinning hall. She could easily admit that she enjoyed the things that she was, apparently, stirring up this year. She never really liked many of the other girls at school, there was no reason for her to coddle them and tell them that they were only going to detention and not some rendezvous in the woods.

"Shall we?" He held out his arm and she chuckled a bit as she took it.

"Lead the way sir."

They joked and pushed each other down the corridors on the way to Slughorn's office. It was odd that they hadn't ever really talked until the day before on the train and now they could joke and laugh together.

Once they got to detention, though, they weren't smiling quite as much. He made them sort animal entrails so that they could be stored for potions classes to come.

"Look at the time." Slughorn said after an eternity of dragon lungs, spider-web sacks and newt eyes. "It's almost curfew. Don't want to get you two in even more trouble. Hurry up now, hurry up."

The two students practically ran out of the room and down the hall.

"I thought it would never end." Katherine practically cried out in suppressed agony.

"If I ever see another vulture bladder it'll be too soon." Black mumbled.

They walked along in semi-companionable silence. They had nothing to say to one another so they just kept meandering along, Katherine walking slightly ahead. She turned a left a stopped

"Shit." She said and dove back the way she came. She quickly grabbed Black and pulled him around the corner with her, covering his mouth with her hand. He managed to peek around the corner and saw Professor Dumbledore, Professor Hood, and an older man, probably late forties, in very expensive-looking black robes. He resembled Professor Hood a bit, though this new man's hair was black sprinkled with grey in places and he looked a bit more dignified. He hated him already.

"What's wrong with you?" His question was muffled by her hand, he moved it and started to whisper. "It's only Dumbledore and your lover, no need to get all anxious about it."

"First off, ew! My lover? Never. Secondly, it's not them I'm worried about. See the guy in the fancy black robes?" That's my uncle, Darius Hood. He hand my father were brothers."

"Then, why is your name Keaton?"

"It used to be Hood, or so I'm told, but after my father died Darius became the head of the family, and he didn't want anything to do with his brother's muggle wife or his half-blood daughter and disowned me. Keaton is my mother's maiden name."

"Hood...but that means that the professor-"

"He's my brother, half-brother actually. My father was married to a pure-blood before my mother, but she died. Long story short, my uncle hates me, and I'd rather not have a confrontation right now, or see him, ever, if I can help it."

The three men, still discussing something rather deeply, started heading in their direction.

"Would you risk another detention for this?" He asked her.

"What?"

"To avoid your uncle, would you risk it?"

"Yes." She breathed.

Without another word, he grabbed her hand and ran back down the hall that they had just walked up a moment before.

They passed Slughorn's office and made a left, quietly running until they came to a stop in front of a tapestry of the goblin revolt of 1407. It would have been a rather boring tapestry, if it weren't for the fact that is was a tapestry made to commemorate the ballet performance of the goblin revolt of 1407 and all of the goblins were wearing lime-green tutus. The landscape was pretty barren except for the goblins, with their weapons held high, charging into battle with faceless foes, and the castle in the distance.

"Dringlelock." She heard Black whisper to the tapestry. "Part of the rebellion seeks your assistance, we are evading capture by the enemy and seek refuge."

The goblin leading the troops turned his head and looked at them.

"All those who seek refuge may find it here." Was all he said.

"Come on." Black pulled her into the tapestry just as the three men turned the corner. Katherine looked at Black and held back a gasp. He was no longer real looking, he was stitched and woven into the tapestry. She looked at her hands. They were woven as well. She turned around and saw the hall that they just came from.

"Did you just see that?" Darius asked the other two.

"I'm sorry, Mister Hood, but perhaps my old age is catching up with me." Dumbledore replied. "I didn't see anything."

"Nevermind." He shook his head. "As I was saying, sir, the ministry fears-"

"The ministry fears everything." Katherine's brother cut him off. "Everything they shouldn't bother worrying about, considering the real threats out there."

"Jacob, surely you jest. A threat? Not to you, you were born as pure as they come."

"It is a true man that looks beyond his own needs and looks toward the needs of others. Your brother used to say that."

"I've always been intrigued by this tapestry." Dumbledore said, seemingly out of nowhere.

"I once heard, in my school days, that it was a secret passage, though I never managed to open it." Jake shared a knowing look with the headmaster.

"Stay very still." Sirius whispered into her ear.

"One little girl and your ideals change completely." Darius muttered.

"I never shared your ideals, uncle. The green of the tutus really add sure drama to the scene, don't you think?" Dumbledore nodded and Jake turned back to his uncle. "She may have been a child when you disowned her, but she's grown. Soon, she'll be of age and you and all of your skilled drones won't stand a chance against her. I'll make sure of it."

"Perhaps we could marry her off to a pure-blood family, pass her off as one of our own." The middle-aged thought out loud. "I've heard that the Blacks have recently suffered a humiliation, perhaps they need a chance to repair their name."

"If she wants to get married," Jake fairly seethed, "She'll get married. As it is, she's still quite young for that. And if you try anything like that, well, if you do let's just say that I'd send word to St. Mungo's in advance if I were you."

"Well then, neither of you can be swayed?"

"I'm afraid not." Dumbledore said rather cheerfully.

Darius turned and stalked off.

"Would you fancy some tea?" Dumbledore asked his newest staff member.

"Why, yes, I would. Thank you Head Master."

"That was close." Katherine let out a breath she hadn't known she had been holding.

"What do you mean? We were safe."

"Maybe, but they were just so close."

"Listen, Kitten, you've got to learn to trust me. I've done this plenty of times and I've yet to be caught. Relax, take in the view, but only for a moment. We've places to go." Sirius walking through the woven scene. He seemed to be heading toward the castle that she saw before. She chased after him.

Author's Note: I'm hoping that everyone realizes that I am not J.K Rowling, as she is rich and famous and I am typing this on a crappy computer in my basement. I don't own anyone in this series, except for Katherine, Jake, Darius and Katherine's mom...so far. Oh, how I wish I owned the marauders...except Peter, he can die sad and alone like the little rat he is for all I care. (HA! He does!)


	4. I Think It’s Safe To Call Me Sirius

Sirius got to the castle and waited.

"You could've slowed down or waited for me or something." Katherine hissed at him.

"No time, love." He grabbed her hand and pulled her through the black thread that was the castle door. Eventually, the walls no longer looked like they were made of thread or yarn, they actually looked like stone. She reached out her free hand and grazed her fingers across the wall's surface. They had left the tapestry, they were in a tunnel of some kind. She didn't know where they were right now, or where they were headed, but Black seemed to, so she decided to do as he said and trust him, just this once.

Sirius heard her intake of breath once they came out of the one-way tunnel somewhere near the quittich pitch. He turned to her and saw her look of pure rapture as she turned her head skyward to see all of the beautiful stars. It almost hurt, it was so beautiful.

"I've never seen the stars so clearly before." She whispered, as though to actually say anything would shatter the stars from their resting places on the navy-blue sheet that was the sky. She looked at him, her eyes pleading. "Can we stay, just for a little while?"

"Of course." He gave a mega-watt smile and plopped himself on the ground, laying on his back with his arms supporting his head. He saw her lay down beside him from the corner of his eye.

"They make me feel so small and insignificant."

"That's why people love them so much, we feel like there's so much more to discover when we look at them."

"How philosophical." She murmured groggily.

"Don't fall asleep on me, now. I won't be the one dragging your sorry arse back to the common room." Her laugh filled the night.

"It's been nice have a home for these past few years, isn't it?" She said after some time had passed.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, after my dad died, mum's been dragging me all over the world. She can't seem to find a place to settle down. I think she's still grieving. It's been nice to know that, no matter where I spend my summers, I would always return to this place. I'm going to miss it." Her sigh came out in puffs of mist in the chilly air.

"Me too."

"Where are you?" He turned and gave her a curious look. "Up in the sky, I mean."

"There, you see?" He pointed to the vast expanses of space.

"Not really."

"I'm right there." He leaned almost over her, so that she could see where his hand was pointing. "It's the brightest one."

"It suits you." He gave her a devilish grin. "No, I don't mean bright, intelligent, I mean you're charismatic, buoyant, noticed." She laughed. "I'm not getting it out right."

He suddenly noticed how close they were. He looked at her, just thinking. She looked back, wondering. Slowly, he leaned in and took her mouth with his.

It started out innocently enough; a way to test the waters, as it were. Neither of them expected her to kiss back, but she did.

In a moment her hands were tangled in his hair and his own arms snaked their way around her waist. He slid on hand up her back and toyed with the ever-present hair elastic for a moment before tugging it out and felling her dark-brown tresses slide toward the ground. His fingers combed through her silky, smooth hair. She bit his lip and he smirked; he had found her weakness. His tongue instinctively licked his lips and she claimed it as her own.

He broke the kiss and started to lick, suck and nip his way across her jaw and too her neck. He sucked her neck just behind her ear. He sighed against her neck as he felt her cool fingers move under his shirt and dig into his shoulders and back. She trailed her hands over his back, and then to his chest and stomach, enjoying the feeling of his hard body under her finger tips.

He heard her breathing heavily as she clung to him while he continues to explore her sensitive neck and throat. He caught her lips in a searing kiss. She pulled him closer and deepened it.

Suddenly, she pulled away.

"Why are we doing this?" She panted.

"Um, because we want to?" He replied.

"But...where does that put us?" He groaned at her question. Every time he started having fun with a girl they'd ask that same question and every time it was the same tear-fest when he said that he just wasn't - "Because, no offense or anything but, I don't want a relationship - with anyone - right now. I just think-"

"We're friends." Sirius said before she said anything too serious, "And if we're the kind of friends that enjoy a good snog together every once in a while, so be it."

"I like the way you think, Black."

"Please Kitten, after that lovely session, I think it's safe to call me Sirius."

"Fine, Sirius." They both started to laugh for no reason.

Somehow they managed to sneak back into the castle and into their dorms undetected. Katherine fell down in her soft bed and snuggled deep under the covers. The night hadn't been all that bad after all.

The next morning wasn't so great, however. Katherine did her usual morning stuff, and caught a glimpse of herself in the foggy mirror after her shower and had to stifle a scream. On her neck was a variety of lovely red blotches. Yes, Katherine had hickeys.

She tried using make-up to cover them, but they were still quite obvious.

"Damn." She muttered as she searched her trunk. "I hate turtlenecks."

"Why do you need a turtleneck?" Lily yawned from her own four-poster.

"Oh, ah, morning Lils. It's really cold out today and I, uh, I feel a cold coming on."

"Oh. Okay then." She rolled back over to sleep for a few more minutes. Suddenly, she bolted out of bed. "Wait, why are _you_ up before me?" She sounded slightly worried. She had good reason to be worried, though, the only time Katherine ever woke up early was when she went to sleep at three the afternoon before, or she was throwing up everywhere; her waking up before Lily would have told her that she overslept, meaning she was late for class.

"Don't worry, I just wanted to actually eat breakfast this morning. I'm always like this the first f the year. In a week or two I'll be back to normal, promise."

"Thank Merlin. I'm not sure I could live if you kept ruining my routine." Lily visibly relaxed and got out of bed to get ready. "What time is it, anyway?"

"We've got another hour before classes start."

"Only an hour?! I've no time to get ready! Why didn't you wake me up sooner!"

Katherine simply chuckled as she watched her friend tear around their room in search of the things she needed for the morning. She finally ran into the bathroom for a quick shower and Kate went back to her own search, soon finding a light blue sweater her mother had given to her the Christmas before. She pulled off her dressing gown and pulled the sweater on, messing up her hair.

"Morning, you two rays of sunshine!" Sirius just about yelled when Katherine and Lily finally made it down to breakfast. "Come, come now, sit with us! It's not like you have much choice." He was right, the table was packed and the only places left were right next to Sirius (which seemed quite odd considering his popularity with the female population of Hogwarts).

"Sure thing." Kate sat down beside Sirius, Lily on her other side. "So, how is everyone this morning?"

"Well, you and Padfoot seem pretty happy, for two people who came back from detention mysteriously late." James said, giving them both a meaningful glance.

"Yeah, where were you?" Lily yawned.

"Avoiding Peeves." Kitten lied easily enough.

"Yeah. Normally he's pretty funny, but not when you're the one being pelted with ink pellets." Sirius added.

"Right." Everyone eyed them suspiciously. Everyone but Peter, who was very interested in his toast for some reason.

The owls chose that moment to swoop down to the tables, effectively taking most of the attention away from Katherine and Sirius. Then, a large tawny owl, and two smaller barn owls chose to land precariously close to the picture of orange juice in front of Kate, depositing a large parcel on her plate.

"Oh joy." She said in a rather monotone voice, "My other books have arrived."

"What do you mean _other_ books?" Someone asked.

"Well you see, when I first got my letter of admission to Hogwarts my mother wasn't too keen on letting me go, she wanted me to have a 'proper' muggle education." She started to tear the tape off of the package. "So, I had to make a deal that I would do both. Both schools have made adjustments for me but I've been doing alright, as long as I've never had much of a social life." She looked up for the half-opened box. "And now we all know why Lily is my only friend." She started piling books on top of books on the table while everyone stared at the growing stack, their mouths hanging agape.

"Bloody hell, Kitten, what is all of this?!" Sirius demanded.

"Let's see...chemistry, biology, physics, English-"

"But you speak English every day."

"'What light through yonder window breaks? It is the east, and Juliet is the sun.' Nothing? Thought as much." She went back to naming her classes. "Ancient history, modern history, trigonometry, calculus, sociology and law. Why the hell would I need law?"

"Why the hell would you need any of that rubbish?" James countered.

"Actually, all of those courses, save one or two, are what make up a well-rounded muggle education." Lily stated as though she were a tour guide in a museum. "If she chose to go on to any universities or colleges they would look at those courses first. But this does seem like a bit much, Kate."

"No it isn't, this is for the entire year, but I only do five classes at a time. Once the year is half-through I write exams in those five, then I move on to the others. They call it 'semestering' or something like that." She idly flipped through the pages of her biology text, as it was her favorite subject, and smirked at all of the dissections she would get to do this year.

The bell rang and the occupants of the Hall let out a collective groan.

"What do we have next?" Kate asked excitedly.

"Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lupin said without thinking.

"GAH!"

Author's note & disclaimer: I am not, I repeat, NOT, J.K Rowling.

Wow, lots happened on this one, huh? Sirius and Katherine got pretty heated --, but the poor girl as all of those classes vv. What happens next time? Does Peter ever speak? Will anyone notice Katherine's hickeys? Will Professor MacGonagall sprout wings and fly around her class-room singing "my bonny lies over the ocean?! Some of these questions and more will be answered in the next chapter of Seriously, it's just a fling!


	5. One Disrupts My Rights As A Human Being

_The bell rang and the occupants of the Hall let out a collective groan._

"_What do we have next?" Kate asked excitedly._

"_Defense Against the Dark Arts." Lupin said without thinking._

"_GAH!"_

Katherine tripped over the strap of her bag and landed flat on her face, the bag's contents flying everywhere. "You guys go ahead, I'll just clean up this mess."

"Yeah, right." Lily started to pick up some quills, the four boys followed her lead and started to help Katherine with her things. "The only reason you're doing this is to get out of class."

"Why would I want to get out of Defense?" She asked innocently.

"Maybe because of your questionable past with a certain professor." Siuirs smirked.

"Don't be laughing too hard, Black, she _is_ pregnant with _your_ children."

"If only I could have been there when that happened." He said with a far-off look on his face. Katherine hit him in the head with a textbook.

"No dirty thoughts aloud."

"Do you mean none out-loud, or none at all?"

"Does it even matter?"

"Of course it does! One disrupts my rights as a human being, you know, that one about free-thinking."

"Stop being stupid! It doesn't matter because I can't read your mind, you moron." Katherine and Sirius continued arguing about this, among other meaningless things, while their friends stared at them in wonder.

"It's like they're a married couple." Lily said in her trance-like state.

"Sirius, as part of a couple?" James almost laughed, then he took another look at the two as they fought about which of Betty Bott's Every Flavor Beans was the best/worst. "Never thought I'd see the day."

"I'm telling you, rat's liver is the worst." Kate stated.

"No, it's definitely frog's kidney." Sirius was undeterred.

"Children, might we possibly continue this discussion on the way to class." The fighting pair got up, never even looking at the others, and started to walk to the Defense Against the Darks Arts class-room. Lily, James and Remus followed, Peter went along to a different class.

"You are clearly too stupid to know the gross from the positively revolting." 

"And you would obviously argue with anyone, even if you are dead wrong."

"Why does it even matter!" Lily finally spoke up. Katherine and Sirius looked up at her, their expressions saying, quite clearly, that they had forgotten that there were people following them.

"Why does what matter, Lils?" Katherine asked innocently. Lily simply growled and stomped into the class, throwing her books on the nearest desk and taking a seat in front of them. "I suppose that this is where we say 'Adieu' boys." Katherine went to sit next to her friend.

The boys sat down together across the room and the lesson was underway.

"Good morning, class." Professor Hood said cheerfully. "Don't we all look happy to be here." He scanned the room, looking at the curious, if not a bit tired, faces. "My name is Professor Hood and I will be teaching this class for the rest of the year." Someone in the second row yawned. "Alright, to start, we're going to have a review about everything you've learned so far. Don't look so worried, this could take some time, days even. It's a pity we'll have to put off notes until then." He saw a few students perk up and he smiled at the class. "Let's start with something easy; werewolves. Who wants to go first." He scanned the crowd of unenthusiastic teenagers and pointed to the one boy with his hand up. "You." He said simply.

"It's Snape." The boy drawled. "Werewolves are a menace to our society. They look like normal human beings; but when the full-moon arrives they enter their true wolf-like forms. In this form they attack anything that moves and are extremely dangerous. They should not be left free to wander around with normal people." Snape folded his hands on the desk in front of him, looking rather pleased with himself.

Katherine glared at him, where did he get off saying things that were so...so...untrue! Sure there were some facts in all of that rubbish, but that's all it was, a load of rubbish! She didn't notice that Sirius and James were also giving Snape glares, which were ten time more filled with blood-lust then her own, or that Remus was hiding behind a book, looking rather depressed.

"I disagree." She said clearly, and rather loudly.

"You have something to say Miss?" The professor said.

"Keaton, Katherine Keaton. And yes, I do have something to say. I disagree with what was just said."

"Would you care to elaborate?"

"Once a month, during the full-moon, any _person_ who has been infected by the virus changes into a werewolf, for one night. That's about, oh, I don't know, ten hours of every month? Maybe a bit more. What has been insinuated was that such people should be judged by how they spend ten hours of a month instead of the other twenty-nine-and-a-half days. Of course, the most famous werewolves were blood-thirsty killer types, terrible people, that's how they became famous; but to judge all werewolves the same as you would those few others is like saying that all birds can fly, or all pure-bloods hate muggle-borns and half-bloods. It's an unfair statement and should not be said, no matter how many people there are with these twisted views."

Once she was finished, Katherine was shocked to see that she was standing on her chair, and that the whole class was listening intently. She wasn't surprised to see the slight smile on the professors face, however, he was the one that taught her these things, after all.

A couple of students across the room started to clap, and a few joined in. Pretty soon, all of the Gryffindores in the room were clapping, the Slytherins simply glared at her. She made an extravagant bow and hopped off her chair.

"That's enough, class." Professor Hood said, raising his hands to quiet the mob. "Very well put, Miss Keaton. Does anyone have a rebuttal?" The class remained silent. "Very well, what else do you know?"

The rest of the class went smoothly. Not once did any of the other girls give her dirty looks or throw death-threat paper air-planes at her head. Overall, an accomplishment, but it got better. Jake acted like he had never met her before, so there were no dirty looks or death-threat paper air-planes thrown at her head! By the time class was over Katherine was in a very good mood. She was, until Professor Hood told her to stay after class.

"Did you enjoy yourself last night?" He asked, a knowing look on his face.

"Yes, detention was wonderful, I can't wait to get another one."

"I saw the two of you in the tapestry, so did the Head-Master." He raised an eyebrow in question.

"I saw you with Darius and panicked, okay? He just helped me out and took me to hide in the tapestry."

"And who was the young man accompanying you?"

"You don't know?"

"I didn't see your faces, I recognized the back of your head. I'm sure Dumbledore knows, but I doubt he would tell."

"Good, because neither am I."

"Why? Did you do something you shouldn't have, Katie? Besides leave the castle after curfew. Don't look so shocked, I wasn't the most well-behaved when I went to school here, I know where that tapestry leads. You have the most amazing view of the stars from the quittich pitch, don't you?"

"Yeah." She sighed happily.

"That would explain why you're wearing that sweater. I haven't seen it since last Christmas." He quickly pulled the high collar of the sweater down, revealing Katie's red, blotchy neck. "So you were up to something. Who was it, I'll have him hanged."

"No you won't. Besides, it was just a one-time thing, I doubt that it will ever happen again."

They talked some more, about family and other things siblings talk about.

"You should leave now, you'll be late." She was at the door when he spoke again. "And as soon as I find that you were lying-"

"Jake, I'm serious, it was just a fling."

A/N: I own these people: Katherine Keaton, Jacob Hood, Darius Hood, that's all. Oh, and the plot? Totally mine, although I'm sure there are some like it out there. And this one is dedicated to pOkEd AnD sUrViVeD and The Awkward Turtle and anyone else who reviewed. Thanks guys! passes out more cookies Did I forget to mention that all who review get a cookie? XD

And It has been brought to my attention that Katherine's courses are a bit...off. It's true, I know. I'll just straighten it out a bit. This would be like grade 12 for her. She took her grade 11 sciences the year before and is now doing the grade 12 ones (earlier grades were just science in general). And I did mention semesters, she's taking trig first semester and calc second. As for her Histories, I'll admit I got a bit carried away and just put them both in there because she needed to have ten courses. I'm basing this on my school-system, where you don't pick your own classes until grades 11 and 12 and you have to meet certain requirements to graduate (so many science, English, math and history courses). The only reason she's taking all of these courses is beacause she has no idea what she's going to do once she graduates, sad to say. I'm sorry for any and all confusion this may have caused. Thanks to 'J' (the mystery person) for pointing this out, your criticism was needed. hands a cookie


	6. Why’s The Sky Blue?

It had begun; the date of the first Hogsmeade trip was posted. Everyone was excited. Everyone, that is, except Katherine. She had buckets of homework from both schools that, although she could put off for a little while longer, she really needed to get a head-start on if she planned on finishing it all on time.

"Come on Kate!" Lily almost cried in frustration as they sat in the nearly empty common room after lunch one day, "You simply _must_ come this time. You haven't been to Hogsmeade since our forth year!"

"I know, but this is my last year, in two schools, they're really running me down with all of this homework."

"But, well, what if you finish it all by then?"

"Then I'll go with you ad we'll have the most wonderful time acting like first-years who've had too much butter-beer."

"Just promise you'll try, please?"

"I'll try my very hardest, but I can't promise you a positive out-come."

"Well, you have two weeks, there's a good chance you'll finish it all, right?"

"There would be, if homework wasn't a continuous thing and this was all I had. But enough about that; it's getting depressing. Why haven't you been all 'grr' about James lately?"

"'James'?" Lily asked innocently.

"Potter. You almost never yell at him anymore. Honestly, my entertainment this year has dropped dangerously low."

"That's not true, I yelled at him yesterday for something-or-another in potions."

"I know, but it's already noon of the next day and you haven't even sent him a follow-up glare or anything! Are you starting to realize that, and this is just a thought, he's not the 'evil, loathsome, little toerag' you keep claiming him to be?"

"Well, I...I just...he hasn't been so bad lately a-and he's actually been taking his duties seriously and...just stop pestering me."

"I was going to...but this is just too good." Katherine leaned back in her chair and smiled. "Lily Potter, nice ring to it, don't you find?"

"Stop saying things like that, that's how rumors are started!"

"But it's not just a rumor that Lily Evans fancies-" She trailed off.

"Who?" James suddenly asked as he walked up behind the girls. "She fancies who?"

"James, stop being so bothersome, I never said she fancies anyone. I was going to say that she fancies a bit of tea with her dearest and best friend. And just so you know, that means me."

"I suppose that it was a waste of my time to come over, then." James moped back over to his friends as they bent over something. The something they were bending over could not possibly have been homework, or Sirius would have never looked at it. What did it mean? The boys were up to something. Katherine, however, decided not to tell Lily as she was already quite flushed at the moment (Kate mentally chuckled) and the school needed some more entertainment; things were getting a bit dull.

OoO

"Why are you working again?" Sirius whined to her as she did a few chemistry questions on the couch later that week.

"Because I feel like going to Hogsmeade. Why are you bothering me again?" She balanced the equations and started applying Hess' law.

"Remus is tutoring Peter, and James is trying to actually _act_ like head-boy for a certain head-girl so he's studying in the library."

"Yet you have no problem bothering me while I work, strange."

"You aren't in the _library_. I swear to you that Madam Pince has it out for me."

"Maybe, just maybe, she wouldn't hate you if you didn't deliberately disturb the peace everytime you walk through the doors."

"But it's just sooo booooooring in there. I'd rather _die_ then work, even if it is at the hands of that batty old woman."

"It's rather astounding that you're doing as well as you are in your classes." Katherine muttered as she checked her answer in the back of the book. She had to have all of the work for chapter eleven done and in the mail tomorrow, and she still had half of it left to do.

"I'm just naturally brilliant." Sirius flopped down on the couch, putting his feet in her lap and using the armrest as a pillow. He picked up her physics book and started leaf through it. In a matter of seconds, he got bored and dropped it on the ground. "Kitten?"

"Hm?"

"Why's the sky blue?" He asked with all of the innocence and awe of the child.

"The layers of the atmosphere...filter through the navy...blueness of outer-space."

"Really?"

"No."

"Well, I like that answer, don't tell me the real one(1)."

"Sure thing, mon petit chou (2)."

"I love being named after vegetables, it beats out stars any day." He joked as he closed his eyes. "When did you learn French?"

"My mum's been living in southern-Quebec, a French-speaking part of Canada, for the past two years. I just picked up a bit while I was there over the holidays." She eyed him from across the couch. "And if you fall asleep, I'm not dragging your lazy arse up to the dormitories." He simply smiled at her.

"That was a fun night, wasn't it?"

"It was okay."

"Please, Kitten, you wore the same sweater for three days to hide the evidence. You. Loved. It."

"Maybe a little." She smiled. Sirius winked at her. "Shut up and help me with this work."

"What do you expect me to do? This is muggle stuff, I'm perfectly inept with all things muggle."

"Haha. You're not getting away with that. I know you've learned a few things, even if it was just to piss off mother and father Black."

"Caught me again. And normally I would find someplace to be, but I'm at my wit's end as it is. What do you want me to do?"

"Read act one, scene two of this play and answer questions one to fifteen on this sheet." She practically threw the objects at him. "Thanks, you're a doll, you know that?"

Sirius grumbled and turned the pages of the play.

OoO

It was the day before the trip and, with much help from Sirius in English and Defense Against the Dark Arts, all of Katherine's work was finished, handed in, and mailed off, on time!

"Liiiiiiiiiiilyyyyyyyyyy!" Katherine sang that morning at breakfast, "Guess whaaaaaat!"

"What?"

"No, you have to guess."

"Oh, let's see...some bloke has finally admitted his undying love for you and now you're engaged?"

"No, silly, very good answer though, quite clever if I do say so myself." Kate looked over to her left and saw James get up and look at Lily with a determined (if not a bit sickly) look in his eye. "But, I'm going to run away for a moment as a certain someone is headed this way and he looks rather queasy." Katherine scooted over to where the other three boys were to watch the show, and add some commentary where she saw fit.

"Go on the trip with me." ("Way to order her, Prongs." Sirius muttered. "She's not a bloody house-elf.") "Please?" James added as though he heard the comment.

"Okay." Lily said. Everyone gasped. ("The only problem now is wondering if she means it, or if she just doesn't want him to be sick on her." Kate whispered.)

"Sorry to bother you then, I'll just-wait, did you just say yes?"

"Actually, mate," Sirius piped up, "I believe the word was 'Okay'." He started laughing at his friend's face, which went from anxious, to disappointed, to confused, to rapture in a matter of seconds.

"She said yes!" James practically yelled.

"Way to make it sound like you proposed. You didn't propose, did you?" Kate joked.

"Good, for you, mate." "About time you asked." Remus and Peter congratulated him and went off to study something or another.

"They've been studying a LOT so far this year." Kate remarked.

"Pete's just worried about NEWTs, he's really stupid so he has every right to be, and Remus says that teaching that block-head helps him retain the information better. A mutual symbiotic relationship." Sirius said, trying to go for a casual/intelligent tone.

"You've been reading my biology book haven't you. And here you said you didn't study."

"I don't, I read."

"You can read?!" She faked shock.

"How else could I have done those English questions for you?"

"He did _your_ homework?!" Lily asked, outraged.

"You did_ homework_?!" James looked at his friend like he was going to have heart palpitations.

"Did you ever thing of the consequences should someone find out?"

"Do you feel queasy? Dizzy? Feverish?"

"Lily, stop preaching; nobody will find out unless you tell them. James, get your hand off of Sirius' forehead; he's not sick, he was just _very_ bored because you abandoned him like the little puppy he is."

"What did you want to tell me earlier, Kate?" Lily asked suddenly, both girls unaware of the look James was giving Sirius, and the way the latter shook his head.

"Oh, nothing, just that I'm going on the trip with the boys, you'll understand, won't you? You have a date and all." Kate smirked in triumph. "Speaking of which, we must prepare! See you later, boys!"

Author's note:

1) The real reason that the sky is blue is because there are moisture particles (H2O) in the air and when the white light from the sun hits them it refracts the largest wavelength color, blue, back to us because of the angle at which the H is attached to the O. Betcha wish you didn't know now, huh?

2) Mon petit chou: Directly translated: My little cabbage, but it's a term of endearment; chou darling. Therefore, My little darling.

And I have to thank **whatsername104 **for reviewing and hand her another cookie. If you review and you want something else, I'd be happy to oblige you. For example...you, alone with Sirius in a closet for 137 seconds? I could do that easy. Or a pie, pie's good too. Pie is more wholesome too. XD

PS: I don't own any Harry Potter characters (no matter how much I wish I did...)


	7. You had better hope that was clean

"I can't believe this!" Lily yelled. It was the day of the trip and she was trying to get ready, with the help of her best friend, of course. Unfortunately, her hair wasn't flattening the way she wanted it to, the sweater she picked out the night before had been suddenly attacked by doxies and her left shoe was missing. "What was I thinking?! What am I going to do?"

"Lily, calm down. I traded some of my very best, and very favorite, perfume to Henrietta for some of her hair serum. The other sweater looks better on you anyway, it brings out your eyes until they sparkle. And-" She waved her wand and something shot out from under Lily's bed into her hand, "-I found your shoe. Plus, it's a lovely, crisp day out there and you are going to have a great time. Just relax and enjoy each other's company."

"How can you be so perky at a time like this?"

"I've seen you and Potter interact since first year and have been waiting all this time for you to finally get off your high horse and accept him. This is what Christmas is probably supposed to feel like. Do you have a problem with my perkiness?"

"Yes." Lily grumbled as she pulled the sweater over her head, causing her hair to get even frizzier. As she worked the serum through her mane, she thought of something. "You're going with Black then, are you?"

"Yes, and Lupin, and Pettigrew."

"What are you going to wear?"

"Why does it matter? It's just the guys."

"Yes, but they're still of the male species, are they not? You still have to look your best."

"No, I don't. Boys don't judge their friends the same way girls do. You see, Lils, I'm not hanging out with them because I'm half-in love with them. That's the way friends are, and if you didn't know that..." She took a few steps away. "...I'm just not that into you, no offense or anything, I just don't see you _that_ way."

"Stuff it, Katie." She said the name as though it were an insult. "And what about Black? Don't tell me you haven't got a thing for him."

"Half of the female population has a thing for him. I, however, do not. We are friends, and if we're friends that flirt every once in a while then so be it." She said, waving a dismissive hand.

"Really? Because you two definitely have something going for you; you two would be good together."

"What's wrong with you? Sirius and I are friends." (_If we're friends that enjoy a good snog every once in a while then so be it._ She thought to herself.) "Just friends. And if people have a problem with that they can kiss my-"

"I get it." Lily raised her hand as though to shield herself from her friend's words. "Such vulgar language. Help me with my make-up?"

"Hmm, I would, but I'm assuming that you want to look pretty today, and I would probably poke one of you eyes out due to my lack of hand-eye coordination."

Do you want to know what's sad? The fact that that statement was completely and utterly true. Where have I failed to make you a woman?"

"I am a woman, very few men have such a nice pair of-" Lily held up her hand, telling her to stop.

"I get it. But when just remember this when you need help preparing for your date with Black."

"Right." She rolled her eyes. "And in second year you just _knew_ that you were going to marry James Potter."

"Nobody thought that!"

"I did." This resulted I Kate being hit in the face with a rolled-up sock. "You had better hope that was clean."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sirius and James were just rolling out of bed when all of that was happening in the girls' dorm. James was awake because he was so nervous about blowing it with Lily, and Sirius was up because James kept pacing the room and wouldn't give him five damn minutes of peace and quiet.

"James, if you don't stop pacing I'm going to take your new broomstick and shove it someplace very uncomfortable." Black snapped.

"What if I do something stupid?" James asked, his face contorted in worry.

"No offense, mate, but I think she's expecting it."

"What should I wear? Fist impressions are the most important after all."

"And you sure blew that one." Sirius muttered under his breath. "Just don't wear what you've got on now."

"What's wrong with what I'm wearing?" James took the defensive.

"You're still in your pajamas." James looked at his night-wear and blushed slightly.

"I knew that."

"Sure you did." He swung his legs over the edge of the bed. "Since you refuse to let me finish that dream I suppose I'll get out of bed."

"Sorry, mate."

"You'd better be. It was the brunette, and you know how well she can bend." He pulled on some casual clothes that he had strewn across the room the day before in an effort to find his broom polish.

"I thought that was the blonde."

"Nah, the blonde's the one with the huge-"

"I get it." James said, looking positively green.

Sirius turned so that he was on his left side, his right, his back, his stomach, and even hanging half-way off the bed, but he couldn't get back to sleep. And the girl of his dreams was calling him back to her! He mentally cursed James to oblivion and got up.

James stared at Sirius' empty bed without actually seeing anything as Sirius got dressed. He was too busy wondering what he could avoid doing to keep Evans from giving him a hand-shaped bruise across his cheek.

"What you've got to do with Evans," Sirius said as he searched his trunk for a clean pair of socks, "is act like you're interested in her interests and feelings and what-not. Don't talk about how we hexed Snivelus the other day, and don't talk quittich. I know, I know that it's all you know, but you don't want to bore her to death, resulting in a lost date and a funeral. Funerals, though the first three letters of the word spells fun, are not amusing in the slightest. There is loads of crying and remembering rubbish about a person and pretending that it was a loss. Not fun."

"Good to know." James nodded in all seriousness.

"Where are my damned socks?" Sirius yelled suddenly, his head and upper-body inside the trunk. "Ah, there they are." He pulled himself out and cradled the socks as though they were his long, lost child...or like James would a broom-stick. "I'm going to breakfast now, care to join?" He watched his friend's face darken and scrunch. "On second thought, you shouldn't eat. If you're sick on her, it would be your funeral."

"What about you, though?"

"Hm?" Sirius started to search the bottom of his trunk for a pair of clean socks.

"You and Keaton."

"What are you blathering on about?"

"You and Keaton, today...in Hogsmeade?" He asked, no traces of joking on his face, which shocked Sirius more then anything.

"Kitten? She's replacing you in Hogsmeade, why?"

"Oh, really? Because there are some rumors going around-"

"When have the rumors been right?

"They've been amazingly accurate about you."

"Until now."

"Really?"

"Yes, really."

"Why?"

"What do you mean, 'why'?"

"Why is she different to you then any other girl here in school?"

"She's not." Sirius defended childishly.

"Yes, she is. You're normally not such good friends with a girl until you've, you know. You two haven't, that I'm aware of. In either case it would make her different." Sirius gave a skeptical look.

"How would it be different if I had slept with her then any other girl?"

"Since when have you been with a girl and not told any of your best mates? Face it, Sirius, no matter how you look at it, you see her differently then the others. I can't wait to see the day that the great Sirius Black, a gift from the gods to all women, realize that he's in lo-"

"Don't say it! Do not say that word. I've already told you, mate, I'm not going to settle down until I'm too old to get ladies, which translates to never. I will never be a one-woman man. Besides, Keaton and I are just friends."

"Sure. You're also the one that told me that Evans would never say yes." James said smugly.

"Yeah," he barked out a laugh, "Hope you don't mess that up. She just happens to be friendless today, that's all. If we end up in the shrieking shack, shrieking, so be it." Sirius gave his friend a sly grin. "Besides, we have an opportunity that you don't, and a date would just ruin that, she'll see it too."

"What are you talking about?"

"I would say 'you'll see' but you won't." Sirius gave one last smirk and waltzed out of the room, socks in hand.

Sirius quickly strode out of the room, threatened by what James had just told him. He pulled the socks onto his feet on one of the chairs in the common room and ran out portrait hole to breakfast, leaving James to feel nauseous again.

James was starting to worry about what his friend could possibly be up to. He was very scared for his date, lest it be sabotaged.

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"Hey!" Kate said as she sauntered over to the four boys at the Gryffindore table later. "Are you three ready for some fun, courtesy of moi!"

"What did you have in mind?" Remus asked, a bemused smile on his face.

"We must use all of our espionage skills to see what happens on a certain date with two certain head-people."

"Did you say something, Kate?" Lily asked as her and James finally made it over to the group.

"No, nothing dear. You two go have fun." The young couple smiled and headed for the doors.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do." Sirius called after them as Kate grabbed a quick piece of toast.

"What wouldn't you do?" She asked skeptically.

"We want a show, don't we?" His eyes twinkled mischievously. "Quick with the toast, Kitten, we've got some work to do."

"I'll just eat it on the way. Why do you have your school bag?"

"Don't let your eyes fool you, it's what's in the bag that matters my dear, and that is a secret that must be kept until a later time. Quickly! They're getting away!" He grabbed her hand, running off so quickly she dropped her breakfast on the table. Remus an Peter quickly followed.

"Accio toast!" She said. It floated to her and she caught it in her mouth, as both hands were occupied. Once she put her wand away she took the toast from between her teeth and let herself be half-carried, half dragged to the small village.

Once they stopped, they were across from the Hog's Head, Lily and James had just entered a little shop down the street.

"What do we do now?" Peter asked shyly, if not a bit stupidly. Sirius gave him an 'are you serious?' look while Kate was wondering if he was joking and Remus had that same bemused smirk on his face. He knew exactly what the other two were planning.

"We're going to follow them, of course!" Sirius said arrogantly.

"Hmm, but how will we avoid getting caught?" Kate asked no one specific. The three boys looked at her and smiled, they had no intentions of being seen.

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Author's Note/Message to Readers (that's you!)

I don't own Harry Potter characters. '

Now that that's out of the way, I would like to publicly thank: eloquent dreams, whatsername104, and EmSyd for reviewing the last chapter. And The Awkward Turtle for reviewing when they can. Here you go guys, you can all have my wondrous imaginary cookies.

Oh, and just so you know, when you review, I get chapters out sooner. Don't ask why, I think the reviews just get me in the mood to read. And you don't have to just say that you liked it (which is still good by the way) but you can tell me why you did, or didn't and I'll see what I can do. Just don't be mean please. Being a jerk won't make me write any better. Thank you for you time!


	8. Initiate Plan B!

"Okay, boys, what now?" Kate asked excitedly as she and the three boys stood in Hogsmeade.

"I have to swear you to secrecy, because what I am about to show you explains why we're not always caught for everything we do."

"I swear, I won't tell a soul! Or an un-soul either, just so that there's no confusion." She gave him a cheeky grin.

Sirius looked around to make sure nobody was watching them, Remus and Peter stood very close, and crowded Katherine to do the same. Sirius pulled something out of his school-bag. He quickly pulled it over all four of them. "What's all this then, an old sheet will protect us?"

"It's an invisibility cloak." Sirius said, rather exasperated that she hadn't gotten it. "It's James'."

She turned around and looked in a dingy window. There wasn't anyone looking back at her, all she could see was the Hog's Head behind her and the people on the street.

"Stop moving so much, you'll make it fall off."

"Well sorry if I haven't learned proper invisibility etiquette just yet."

"They're leaving the shop!" Remus spoke quickly, trying to avoid the argument that would ensue and make passing people hear them. It worked. The four of them made their way, silently, after their friends as they walked the front street of the village.

"They're heading to the shrieking shack." Peter whispered.

"Why?" The boys rolled their eyes, she really was clueless.

"You don't get it? Girl hears strange noise, girl gets scared, boy comforts girl, it's the oldest trick in the book."

"Then I supposed you have used it?"

"Many a time." Sirius replied, his voice thick with very poignant memories. "And when they _really_ needed comforting-"

"Hush, they're talking." Everyone strained to hear. "Damn, they're too far away. I wonder what they're saying."

"Lily, I'd love for you to have my children." Sirius mocked James' voice as they saw the other boy speaking.

"Oh, James, I can't wait to have your arrogant, self-centered babies!"

"Oh Evans, your hair is as fiery red as your temper that one time I spilled toadspawn on you in potions. I can't wait until it turns gray and your breasts sag past your knees."

"Oh Potter, I've always thought that you were a toerag, but after five minutes of walking...I...I..."

"Yes?"

"Kiss me you toerag!"

"With pleasure!" Just as James leaned in. Kate felt someone's hand brush her ass, then it crept lower. James was inches away...

Sirius and Katherine were tumbling to the ground, her hissing about remembering what they had come to do and to keep his hands to himself. As they hit the ground, Kate on top, Remus and Peter held onto the cloak to avoid being detected. James stood wide-eyed at them. The only one that looked more shocked then the couple that thought they were alone would have been Sirius.

"Blast!" Kate said, once she caught her breath, "They've seen us! Initiate plan B."

"What's plan B? We can't get away now."

"Hide me! She'll murder me!" With that, she pulled herself under Sirius and pulled his face to her own and kissed him deeply.

Her senses went spiraling. Sirius' eyes widened, then closed as the two of them melded into the kiss. He moved his hands to her face, stroking her cheek and hair. She pulled her fingers across his back and both forgot the world around them.

"Katherine. Faith. Keaton." Lily hissed between clenched teeth. "What. Are. You. Doing?"

Katherine and Sirius separated. Both actually shocked to see their friends standing over them.

"Lily?" Kate said, slightly dazed. "When did you get here? You don't really like quittich."

"Well then," Lily wore a self-satisfied smirk, "That explains why you were late coming back from detention a few weeks ago. Where are the other two?"

"Other who?" Kate shook her head and un-dazed herself. "Oh, Rem and Peter. They went into Madam Puddifoot's tea-house I think. They're so cute together." Sirius laughed and stood up. He took her hand and helped her to her feet. "thanks."

"Not a problem, Kitten." He winked. It had taken a while for him to get over the kiss too. She had completely taken him by surprise, it was so raw and powerful. He wondered why one kiss could make him dizzy; none of the other girls he fooled around with never made him do that. She smiled at him, and he smiled back.

James was, quite frankly, in shock. He was only joking about Sirius and Kate that morning to calm his nerves, but now he was smiling at her. Not smirking, not grinning, smiling. Sirius almost never truly smiled.

'_Bloody hell.'_ He thought to himself. He was almost too shocked to stay angry at the two of them for ruining his chance to do that very same thing to Lily. _'This could get interesting.'_

"What's all this?" James asked, I bit nicer then Lily had.

"Sorry, mate, couldn't make it to the shack." Sirius grinned.

"Where were you hiding?" Lily was a bit bewildered. Kate started to laugh.

"We weren't hiding, we were just walking down this path, same as you. You were probably just too caught up in your conversation with James to notice."

"And what were we talking about?" Lily asked sneakily.

"Your future twenty children?"

"No!"

"Then, how I'm going to be Maid of Honor at the upcoming nuptials?"

"Merlin, what's wrong with you?"

"So many things, dear Lily, so many things. But, you're stuck with me so live with it. Come on Sirius, let's go somewhere that we won't be interrogated." James and Lily watched as their best friends walked back up the path to the village

"How come I'm the one that feels guilty now?" Lily asked.

"Don't worry about it, that was probably her plan all along. Now, where were we?" James raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"You're such a prat." Lily laughed. "But, I could use a reminder."

James leaned in, he pulled her to him and their lips brushed. They came together and kissed, for the first time in the middle of the path leading to the scariest place in Britain.

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"That was brilliant, Keaton." Remus exclaimed at the Three-Broomsticks later. "Way to think on your toes."

"What are you talking about? If she hadn't tackled me for no reason, this would have never happened!" Sirius said, outraged.

"I wouldn't have tackled you if you didn't try to grope me!"

"There was no groping involved on my part. I am, for once, completely innocent."

"I don't believe you." She huffed, crossing her arms over her chest. Unbeknownst to her, crossing her arms only served to make her cleavage more noticeable, and people were noticing.

"What about that one time we-"

"Sirius Black! Are you insinuating that something happened between us?" She gave him a hard look. The other two boys looked at him, waiting for a his response. She took that opportunity to wink at him and stick out her tongue before forcing herself to take on a serious persona again.

"Never, Kitten. But I must say that your neck has cleared up nicely."

"You're such a git."

"And you love it."

Remus watched them playfully fight over who was more obsessed with whom. Peter, however, stared at his butterbeer silently. He has seen Sirius flirt with girls before, and he knew what Sirius did with most of those girls when they had time to sneak away. He didn't want that to happen to Katherine, not with Sirius. Sirius would only use her, hurt her, and leave her. Peter's fists clenched under the table. He wouldn't let him have her, he couldn't.

"Pete, mate, are you quite all right?" Sirius asked suddenly. "You look like you just saw Snape snogging...well seeing Snape snogging anything would put that look on someone's face."

"I'm fine." Peter muttered. "I've got to get back, homework to do and...stuff." He promptly stood up, making his chair fall. He absently waved and walked out of the pub and back to school.

"What's gotten into him?" Kate asked.

"He's probably just worried about NEWTs coming up at then end of the year. Poor bugger'll probably flunk them all." Sirius muttered absently. He had a feeling he knew what was going on, but couldn't be sure until he saw more signs.

"Then you blokes should help him. He is your friend after all."

"Remus is doing that."

"That's sweet of you Remus." She beamed at him. The smile lit up her whole face. Sirius felt something in his chest clench. He sat up, shock written all over his face.

"You all right, mate?" Remus asked.

"I think I've just had a heart attack." He said, clutching his shirt over his heart. "Am I still breathing? Quick, check my pulse! I'm too good-looking to die!"

"All of last night's strenuous activity just caught up with you probably." Kate said. Remus gave her a look and she quickly elaborated. "He was helping me with my English homework again, nothing to look into."

"I don't believe you."

"Believe what you will, it's the truth."

"I'm sure." Remus grinned,

"Fine. Sirius and I were late coming back from detention a few weeks ago because we went out to the quittich pitch to have a good snog. And since then we've been meeting in very alcove and broom cupboard to see how far we can go in between classes." She rolled her eyes. Although the last part wasn't true, Sirius thought that it would be a marvelous idea.

"I find it hard not to believe you." Remus said, propping his elbows on the table, lacing his fingers and setting his chin on his hands. "But go on."

"No." She said, placing a dramatic hand to her forehead, "I've told you too much already."

Sirius and Remus rolled their eyes at her and the three of them laughed.

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Author's Note and What-Not:

I no own Harry Potter and the like.

1) French profanity, actually words relating to the church. "Maudite-Crisse-Tarbarnac!" means (directly translated) God-Damn-Tabernacle, but is actually very offensive to some...even though all the French people I know (besides my French teachers) use them all the time. For more information, check out:

http://en. It's actually pretty interesting...but I'm a loser like that. Heh, heh!

I would like to thank to following people and give them complimentary cookies. I've been thinking of switching to muffins, or cup-cakes or baked-potatoes, but not until next time.

Reviewers!!!! How I love you all! You guys rock. Seven cookies for each of you!

Snuffles-sweetie

EmSyd

hpfan4ever

an anonymous reviewer that I can TRY to give cookies too. :( (I don't name my chapters because I can't think of names, but I'll think about them harder for you from now on.)

People who put me on their story alert...thinger...You guys rock too, (as you help to boost me ego,) so you can have one cookie each.

Notes-and-Photographs

Salsa94

Snuffles-sweetie

hpfan4ever

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I love you if you're reading this right now. But I'll love you more if you review, review, review! Not to pressure you or anything, I'm sure my love (and amazing imaginary cookies) mean nothing to you. I'm just going to stop typing now so you can clickey the little button (down and to the left) there. Tootles!


	9. It’s like having an Epiphany

At supper James, Lily and Peter couldn't stop staring at Katherine and Sirius. He could have cared less; she was getting very annoyed.

"Take a damn picture Potter!" Kate suddenly shot across the table. He ignored her.

"So," James leaned in seriously, "what are your intentions for my best mate?"

"Ugh." She picked up a clump of mashed potatoes and rubbed it into his rather messy hair. Then she quickly turned and stalked off of the common room muttering "Maudit-Crisse-Tarbarnac!" (1) under her breath.

Katherine sat in the empty common room and wrote her thoughts down on a scrap piece of parchment.

_They're all idiots. _ She wrote on a scrap piece of parchment. _They keep staring at me and wondering when we're going to run off to the nearest broom cupboard. It would have been a good idea if I was the one that thought of it and not them._

_Lily's a good friend, but if she gives me that 'I'm planning your future marriage to the school's biggest playboy' look in her eyes one more time I swear I'll murder her with a rather large cushion._

She heard the portrait hole open and Peter walked in. She rolled her eyes when he sat across the room and stole glances in her direction. She honestly didn't understand why he kept doing that. She went back to writing.

_The weird thing is, don't laugh at me for this but, I was scared. Not because I kissed him, and not because Lily was standing over us with smoke coming out of her nostrils, it was because it felt so __right__. That night, on the quittich pitch was nice, wonderful really, but when I initiated 'plan B' my body had such a reaction, all of me did. And when we were laughing with Remus afterwards, my insides clenched so tightly I thought I was going to burst or something._

_I'm rather shocked at all that I've just written, it's like having an epiphany. Regardless, I'm not going to let anything happen between Sirius and I. Nothing emotional anyway. School can be stressful and maybe someday we might both need a distraction from it all, but other then that, nothing. Who am I kidding? He'll probably get himself a girlfriend soon anyway to fool around with and I __refuse__ to be the other woman, or just another name in his book._

Feeling better about everything, Katherine folded the piece of parchment and put it in her chemistry text book.

"I'm sorry Kate." Lily said as she flopped down in the chair next to her friend. "I should have talked to you about you and Sirius before I pulled a 'Petunia' on you. You must hate me for over-reacting."

"No, I don't. We were actually spying on the two of you but I...tripped. The kiss was a, um, diversion. Yes. A tactical diversion to keep you two from murdering us. So, I suppose I'm sorry for spying?"

"Yes, you are." Lily said dryly.

"Good to know. Shall we be homeworking?"

"Actually, I have a study-date with James, in the library-"

"With the revolver!" Kate interrupted. "What? I love the game Clue. Go on your date with James and do 'homework'. I'll just sit here by my lonesome and die a little inside." She stuck her tongue out.

"But you-"

"Don't be late now."

"It's not unt-"

"Begone, woman!" The two girls laughed and Lily headed off to the library.

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Sirius and James were heading to the common room. Peter had gone up earlier and Remus went to the hospital wing because he wasn't feeling well.

"So," James started awkwardly, "you and, uh, Keaton."

"I don't know." Sirius shrugged his shoulders. (A/N: Say that ten times fast. dX)

"Don't give me that. I saw you with her. The way you acted was so...not like you."

"No, I meant that I seriously don't know, mate. One minute we're flirting and doing what you just so happened to see, the next we're just friends or even acquaintances sometimes. It's hard to understand, let alone explain."

"Friends with benefits?"

"I like the sound of that, but probably not."

"And to think that this morning you ran out of the room when I brought her up." James smirked.

"Hey, I had breakfast to eat." Sirius joked back.

The two boys froze when they heard female voices.

"_...we tripped. The kiss was a diversion. Yes, it was a tactical diversion to keep you two from murdering us. So, I suppose..."_

"I'm really sorry, mate." James whispered.

"What are you talking about?"

"She just said the kiss meant nothing." James was more confused then Sirius at the moment.

"Oh, that? I know, and she knows, that she's just covering our asses from you and your mad woman. Besides, we had a silent agreement, and by silent, I mean I can't tell you."

"_Actually, I have a study-date with James, in the library."_ Lily spoke.

"Damn!" James looked frantic. "I have to get there before she does."

"Why?"

"You don't keep a woman like that waiting."

"_Begone woman!"_

"You'd better start running."

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Sirius couldn't sleep that night. He didn't know why. Okay, so he did know why, it was because every time he closed his eyes he felt the way her body felt underneath him, the smoothness of her cheek, the scent of her hair...he was losing his touch. He decided that he needed someone else to get his mind off of this one. Normally he would just go with his gut instinct and take her to the closest broom-cupboard or secret passage-way, but he knew that when she was tired of being used she would turn to Lily and Lily would get angry with James, who would, in turn, become angry with him. Or she could take a short-cut and just hex him to oblivion like he knew she could.

Sirius sighed as he turned over and looked out the window. It was going to be a full moon soon, that should help keep his mind off her and their two incredible sessions.

He wondered if she was as affected by them as he was.

'_Damn it, Sirius, you were forgetting about this.'_ He told himself angrily. He flipped back over, punched the pillow a few times and glared at the wall. It really wasn't easy, this 'infatuation' thing. He seriously wondered how James could have done it for all those years with Lily.

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"Lily?" Katherine asked her friend that morning after the post came. "Who is Vernon Dursley? And why am I invited to his wedding?"

Lily burst out laughing.

"That's my sister's-" gasp, wheeze, giggle, "sister's fiancé." She calmed herself, barely. "I can't believe that she actually listened to me and invited you."

"Why would she do something selfless like that?"

"I told her that having a friend with me will keep me from mingling with her guests."

"Smart cookie."

"But I suggest bringing a date." Kate gave Lily a look. "My cousin, Andrew, is completely girl-crazy. He tried to feel me up at the last reunion. I was scarred for life. The worst part is that he's not very good at it; his pick-up lines involve not-so-clever alphabet re-arranging." Lily shuddered. Kate laughed into her porridge.

"It's three months away, I've got time to ask a date."

"Actually, I've spoken to Dumbledore. I have to tell him everyone that's going by next week, they're the only people that can go. He has to arrange transport and talk to the ministry about it, get some form of permission and what-not, you understand."

"Of course I do. But who should I take?"

"You had fun with Black in Hogsmeade." Lily replied snarkly.

"And you're taking Potter, but who could I take that would get along with all three of us?" Katherine thought out loud, ignoring her friend's comment. "Maybe I'll ask Rem."

"Remus? Why ask Remus?"

"He's a nice guy, we're friends and not a soul in this school thinks otherwise, you can put up with him, he's friend's with James and he has the best manners out of all of then."

"Not Lupin too." Lily groaned.

"What are you talking about?"

"You can't flirt so heavily with Black and then go after Lupin."

"First off, I do not flirt 'so heavily' with Black. Secondly, Remus and I are honestly just friends and nothing is going to happen between us. Third, Remus has a thing for-"

"Keaton!" A some-what familiar voice yelled. Katherine turned around and saw the marauders. Remus looking rather scared and pale, and the other three looking confused. Remus mae a throat slashing gesture.

"What, Remus?" She turned back to Lily. "Remus has a thing for Peter, I've already told you that." Remus looked releived as he stole a glance to the Ravenclaw table, which did not go un-noticed by Lily or Kate. "So, Rem, what are you doing on the twenty-third, three months from now?"

"I...I...why?" Remus actauuly started to sweat, and tremble slightly.

"Lily's sister actually invited me to her wedding and I need a body-guard to guard my body from Lily's womanizer-want-to-be cousin. Are you in?"

"A-actually," He visibly calmed, "that isn't a good time for me at all. I'm going to have to pass."

"It's alright, I forgive you. But who will I take?"

"Weddings?" Sirius spoke up, "I love weddings! Drinks all around!"

"I doubt my sister will have alcohol, she's very...conservative." Lily chose her words carefully.

"Then you will most deffinately need me to lighten up the mood." He gave Kitten puppy-dog eyes.

"Fine. Sirius, would you do me the honnor of accompanying me to Lily's sister's wedding?"

"Why, of course, cherie." Sirius grinned from ear to ear. "What do I need to wear?"

"A suit. A muggle suit."

"Fine. What will you be wearing?" He ask suggestively.

"Nothing."

"That's what I like to hear!"

"I meant that I have nothing to wear and will have my mother pick up something for me."

"Damn."

Author's Note.

Me no own Harry Potter, or related stuffage. J.K. Rowling does, and I envy her every day for it.

I know you guys are probably getting tired of all the flirting and insinuating without the fun suff, but I promise it's comming! A lot can happen in the three months before the wedding. ;)

Special thanks and baked potatoes to all who reviewed, as requested by fastfashiondispatch.

So...a potatoe for: fastfashiondispatch; Baby seal; Snuffles-sweetie; Keisha.cl; and EmSyd. You guys rock, hardcore.


	10. You mean, like, your girlfriend?

If there were anyway for Sirius to kick himself in the head multiple times, he would have done it. Why did he open his big mouth? Why did he even want to go to some muggle wedding? Truthfully, he knew that it wasn't two people joining in 'holy matrimony' that made him want to go, he just wanted to go with _her_, to have an excuse to be near _her_. Why wouldn't she just fawn and swoon whenever it came to him like the others? Actually, he liked that she wasn't like the others, it gave him a chance to actually get to know her. And he enjoyed 'getting to know' her.

He let his head fall to the desk he was sitting at with a dull thud. He was in the middle of Defense against the Darks Arts and his mind kept traveling in circles around her. The class was utterly still as they watched the silent war of wills Professor Hood and Keaton were having.

"Bloody hell, that hurt." Sirius groaned as the impact from the desk shot through his forehead and down his neck in some sort of whiplash.

"Watch your language in my class, mister Black." The professor said. "And miss Keaton, you will be staying after class for a little chat. Understood?"

"Yes, _sir_." She said as she rolled her eyes.

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"Why do you keep doing this, Katie?" Professor Hood asked after the rest of the class had left.

"Do what, sir?" She asked innocently as she packed up her books.

"You're an incredible student. Everything you've handed in has been wonderfully written and beautifully presented, but you're starting to slack off. Handing things in a week late is just not acceptable."

"I'm sorry, Jake." She tuned her icy stare on him. "But maybe you should have thought of that before you took this job. Or, better yet, you could have thought of that before you made this damned arrangement with my mother and that school in the first place." Her voice had risen during her little tirade, and by the end of it she was yelling at him.

He gave his little sister a sad look, trying to show her that he didn't think that it would have turned out like that, but she ignored him and walked out the door and to her next class.

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Sirius was getting very annoyed. Annoyed at himself for watching her, and annoyed at her for being to damn easy to watch. He hated that he seemed to want to get to know her better, and not only in the physical sense.

Through watching her, he gained more details about her, her personality and why she was so hard to ignore (much as he tried). She was a very out-spoken person. However, when her thoughts had the potential to hurt someone she generally kept quiet until absolutely necessary, then she worded them so that it almost sounded like she was giving a compliment. Not many girls seemed to be close to her, except for Lily. Sure, they were all civil, and more then a few could be called friends, but none of them were particularly close. What infuriated Sirius to no end was the fact that quite a few guys in their year seemed to enjoy her company and make her laugh. And how she laughed...

While Sirius had all of her attention in potions, he found that her bottom lip was a bit more full then her top, given the impression of a slight pout when she wasn't smiling and that when she concentrated on measuring the exact amount of crushed bat wings, a small crease appeared between her brows. It was extremely rare for anyone to see her in that state as she was often smiling, smirking or laughing in some way, and always with that little glint of mischief in her deep brown eyes.

He told himself off for the umpteenth time that day for observing her so, and told himself that he needed something to distract him from _Her_. Her whole being was capitalized and italicized in his mind, and that needed to stop, immediately.

Class finished and he bolted from the room to find his friends. They met up quickly and walked the halls of the school, looking for something to do (meaning some (not-so) innocent bystander (Snape) to prank). While looking for the git...er...their unknown prey, a group of girls 'happened' to pass by and whisper excitedly when Sirius looked at them. He saw his opportunity.

"Mooney, what's her name again?"

"Which one?".

"The one with the light-brown hair."

"Jeanie Umpleman. Ravenclaw." His friend answered, much like an encyclopedia would if it could speak.

"Is that the one you fancy?"

"No." Remus said simply. Sirius chose to believe him as his voice didn't get squeaky at all.

"Right then." Sirius strode over the horde of twittering females and put on his best lady-killer smile. "Jeanie?"

"Sirius." She breathed as though she were day-dreaming, and by the look on her face she probably thought that she was. "How can I help you?"

"Can I talk to you, over there, alone?"

"Sure!" Her eyes went wide as she followed him to the other end of the hall.

"Please tell me he isn't doing what I think he's doing." James groaned.

"I don't like lying to you, James." Remus shook his head sadly.

"He's a git."

"Agreed."

Sirius strode back over to his friends, a triumphant smile plastered on his face.

"My friends, you are now looking at-"

"A git." James finished for him.

"No, a genius!"

"Going out with a girl to get another girl out of your head is not going to work. Trust me, I tried that in fourth year; it failed miserably."

"That's not what I'm doing at all!" Sirius retorted, aghast that his friend would even insinuate such a thing. "We're soul mates, Jenny and I."

"Her name's Jeanie." Remus added.

"Damn. You're sure this won't work?"

"Sure as Snape's nose is large."

"That's rather sure, isn't it? Oh well, too late to just dump her. I'll try this out for myself, get a little 'extra-curricular activities' while I'm at it."

"So, you'll just use Jeanie..." Sirius looked confused, so James elaborated, "with the light brown hair."

"No! I'll make her want to dump me. It's the perfect plan!"

Remus and James meaningful looks, much like the look a person would give another when a child asks where babies come from...or when their friend does something incredibly stupid and can't won't be talked out of it.

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Katherine walked to her next class, alone. She was really stressed lately with her classes; chemistry was getting more and more difficult and it was hard for her to keep up. As a result, she was slacking off in some classes and getting in fights with Jake almost every other day. She wasn't getting much sleep either, and that was only adding to her problem, and the symptom of her other problem.

Every since she asked Sirius to Lily's sister's wedding, before that even, she had been feeling a bit...odd. How where they going to act when it was just them? (She was not doubting that James and Lily would go off on their own for a few moments of 'privacy'.) Would they even be able to talk? They've never actually had a decent conversation on their own that didn't end in a good snog...which had happened three more times since the Hogsmeade visit.

She knew it was shallow, in some way or another, to use Sirius the way she did, but she also knew that he was using her and decided to stop fighting over it. Of course, nothing was going to happen between them , they had both made that perfectly clear, and she was happy with that. At the same time though, she didn't want to sneak around in the shadows like a condemned prisoner. She reasoned that it was either that, or being watched more then she already was by professors and student alike, not to mention the rumors that would follow her around.

'Flings are far more complicated then I though.' She mused.

She walked down a crowded hallway. James and Remus were talking to her left, and further along a group of girls were giggling and whispering. She followed their collective gaze and froze when she saw Sirius talking to a girl from Ravenclaw, who just happened to be the one that hated her the most right now and the president of the underground Sirius Black fanclub and support group.

"You mean, like, your girlfriend?" She babbled excitedly.

'Oh well, it was bound to happen some day.' She thought to herself. 'Problem solved.'

She kept walking, and felt something inside of her slowly start to wilt.

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I don't own Harry Potter or any related content sigh

EmSyd, fastfashiondispatch, lilpinkgirl3310, Baby seal, Snuffles-sweetie, anyavioletta, and Toad321. Thanks for the reviews! You are all special...in the non-sped way.

Anya has requested Sirius in the broom cupboard, and who am I to deny my fans/friends?

Sirius walks over to Anya and takes her hand. "Lets go, baby-cakes!" He smiles his irresistible smile and wiggles eye-brows as they walk over to the broom cupboard.

twenty minutes later

Sirius and Anya leave the broom cupboard, both very disheveled, and both with HUGE smiles.

Hope ya liked it!

On another note, HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYBODY! throws confetti and blows noise maker Here's a little song I picked up from Invader Zim. ahehehehehem!

Bow down!

Bow down!

Before the power of Santa!

Or be crushed!

Be crushed!

By...

His jolly boots of doom!

Sorry that this chapter was shorter then most, but I thought I'd leave it with that, just to give you time to think about it. I hope the amazing song (soon-to-be beloved Christmas carol) made up for it just a bit. I love you all.


	11. Don't Kid Yourself

"Black and Umpleman? Are you sure?" Someone whispered to their friend during Herbology.

"Yeah, hard to believe, isn't it?" Katherine should have been paying attention to the lesson, but couldn't considering what was being discussed at the next station.

'_You have no clue_.' She thought to herself. He had never given any inclination to having feelings for any girl, let alone Jeanie Umpleman, while they snuck around school looking for empty classrooms or broom cupboards. But then again, maybe it wasn't so hard to believe. Sirius had been rather distracted during their last few sessions, perhaps he had been thinking about Jeanie the whole time. Well, he had her now, and their relationship was over and done. It was almost disheartening for her to think of the two of them as they had once been in the many opportune places around the large castle.

It wasn't like she would never see him or talk to him again, they were still friends, after all. There would just be less of a 'physical relationship'.

She smiled and went back to pruning her...plant. 'What the hell is this thing?'

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It was a nice day outside, and Katherine and Lily had their free period that afternoon, so they decided to take their homework outside while they could, before winter's harsh winds choked the life from the tree they were sitting under, and the warmth form the sun.

"Hello, ladies." Sirius said as he casually strode over to them. "Did you miss me? I know you did."

"Hardly." Lily said as she looked through the loose pieces of parchment for the one with notes on the Kappa, and other water beasts.

"Yes, Black, I've been pining for you with my whole being." Kate's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"I knew it! And call me Sirius, luv."

"Hmph."

"What's wrong, Kitten?"

"You are, yet again, interrupting my work time."

"But I know how much you enjoy my company." He teased.

"I know that this is a completely unrelated matter," Lily basically elbowed her way into the conversation, "but it true that you're dating Jeanie Umpleman?"

"So what if it is?" Sirius asked defensively.

"Then we would need to congratulate you." Katherine said quickly, before her _dear_ friends chose to spout off some utter nonsense about the two of them have 'something' and that he was only wasting his time with Jeanie...as she had been doing since she heard of the relationship. "You've finally found a girl that can put up with your rubbish and sneak around with you whenever you wanted."

"Like you did?" He asked, purposefully provoking her.

"Um, I have to be...elsewhere." Lily said as she quickly gathered her things and left.

"Excuse me?"

"You're excused."

"What the hell was that? Like I did? I never snuck around with you on demand!"

"Then why did you?"

"Because I needed to let off some steam, and you were available."

"And if I wasn't?"

"Then I'd go without, it's not that hard to do, not that you'd know anything about that. It's not like we had anything special."

"Liar. Don't think that that was all we were. 'Friends', what a joke."

"Then why would you say that then?"

"Because it worked!"

"You slimy little git-"

"Don't kid yourself, Kitten, you wanted me, you still want me."

"No, don't kid _your_self, Black. We _were_ friends, and I still want to be friends, but not if you're going to be like this. We can be friends from now on, and if we're friends that enjoy a good snog every once in a while, the it had better be with other people." She gathered her own things and stalked off to the castle.

Sirius watched her go and felt as though he lost something irreplaceable, it shouldn't have been that way. He had gotten her mad at him, and soon enough she would forget about him and avoid him so that he could get over her. However, he felt as though someone was tearing a hook through his abdomen. He closed his eyes, and opened them again, but he was still on the grounds. There was not port-key to give him that feeling, only a girl that was walking away, her head held high.

"She's right," He said to himself as he let his head fall against the hard tree trunk behind him, "I am a git."

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Katherine was going to go to the library, she knew that Lily would have gone there, but changed her mind and went to the girls' dormitories instead. She didn't want to talk about what had happened anytime soon.

She wrenched open the door and checked to see that the room was empty before throwing her books at the wall as hard as she could and letting out a yell of frustration.

How could he have said those things?

"_Because it worked!"_

The words reverberated off of the soft tissue of her brain and the hard bone of her skull until they made her eardrums rings and she was almost certain that he was in the room, yelling them at her with the aid of a megaphone. _"because it worked"..._

"Well, it won't work anymore." She sat on he bed and calmly removed her socks and shoes, wriggling her toes in the air as she freed them. She had always hated footwear, there was only so much one could go through without having a good cry or kicking off their shoes and running around barefoot and screaming for a while. As she wouldn't give him even the slightest satisfaction of her shedding a tear, she opted for the latter.

Her light gray tabby cat jumped into her lap and rubbed its face against her knee. She scratched the creature's ears affectionately, and it rubbed itself against her hand for more attention.

"Not now, Sammy, I have studying to do. Muggle mid-terms are soon and I've been slacking off lately." She opened up one of her textbooks and started to read.

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"So what did you and Black talk abou-" Lily looked at her friend as she poured over books and notes, making another set on a fresh piece of paper. "Who are you and what have you done with my Kate."

It made sense for her to worry; Kate never studied. She would always do her assignments, but that usually got her through and studying was never required (and even if it was she refused to waste her time doing it).

"_Your_ Kate? Lily, I thought I already told you that I don't think of you in that way." She turned the page in her book and wrote down a few more things as her eyes scanned the pages.

"So, are you going to tell me what you two talked about or are you going to completely avoid the question?" Lily asked, getting over the initial shock of seeing her best friend with her nose in a book.

"I choose option C, none of the above, yet, all of the above."

"How does that work?"

"I wished him luck with Jeanie, and we're still friends." Kate shrugged.

"Oh, Kate, I'm so sorry."

"Supper is soon, right? We'd better get going."

"I suppose we should." Lily sighed, realizing that she wouldn't be getting any information out of her that night.

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Supper that night looked the same as it usually did. Sirius and James were talking about immature boy things, Remus shaking his head sadly every once in a while. Lily and Katherine shared glances that no one else understood the meanings or emotions behind. But every once in a while, Katherine caught herself looking at Sirius as he spoke, the way he moved his hands, his facial expressions, all directed at someone else, as they would be from that day forth. She would shake herself and avoid Lily's gaze as she sent the telepathic message that they _would_ talk about it, and soon.

Peter stole glances at the girl as the meal progressed. He had fallen for her during their first year, when they had been sorted into the same house and he sat down beside her at the very same table they were currently eating at. Few people knew about his feelings for her, until his friends had cornered him in their third year and he stuttered and shook himself even deeper into that hole. They saw right through his lies. Remus had tried to get him to just talk to her, James and Sirius having given up long before, but he could never work up the nerve. Sometimes he wondered if she even saw him as he stood beside her, felt him as he bumped into her.

He hated to see her the way she was because of what he felt. He was in love. That's what he had come to believe, anyway.

"Wormtail!" Sirius called across the table. "Come on, mate, pass the salt! I've been asking you for the past five minutes."

"How thick can you get, Black, you're a damn wizard, act like one, will you?" Katherine huffed.

"How right you are, your Highness." Sirius shot back snarkily as he pulled out his wand and summoned the condiment in question to him, slightly annoyed that he hadn't thought of it sooner.

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**Author's Note!!!! **(I know this is the only reason you read this story XD)

Thanks to all for their wonderful reviews! My ego has been boosted another 23 points! So when I take over the world because of this, we can all thank:

**fastfashiondispatch**

**Snuffles-sweetie**

**EmSyd**

**Friar Freaking Lawrence**

**anyavioletta**

**bobbyanddrogue**

You guys are all hard-core rockers and reviewers, and your pen-names are just plain awesome.

**In other news**: My friend told me about this site, freerice (dot) com. For every question you get right they send 20 grains of rice to a poverty-stricken place that needs it. I know it doesn't seem like much, but I'm up to 2700 grains of rice and I've only been on once. Plus, it will help to substantially boost your vocabulary, and what writer doesn't want help with that?


	12. Falling

It had been a month, give or take, since Sirius and Jeanie had started dating. Katherine was getting very little sleep because of her studies, and it was starting to show. She had prominent dark circles under her eyes, and she wasn't eating much during meals and she was still falling behind in almost all of her classes because she couldn't focus on the lesson while she was trying to keep her eyes open.

She could often be found in the library fiercely studying her notes, or in the common room, asleep over her notes muttering answers to herself.

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"I'm worried about her." Lily said to James when she found him on the grounds one day with his friends and Jeanie. "She's studying again. I agree that it's important, and I realize that she has a lot on her plate right now, but this just isn't healthy." She glared at the ground, an upset look marring her features. "I just wish I knew how to help her."

"Did you talk to Hood about her?" Sirius ask. Everyone gave him strange looks. "It's not what you think." He waved them off. "He might have some insight, a way to get her to sleep at the very least."

"I have talked to him. I'm her best friend, Black, of course I know what's going on there. He said just a distraction might help, but I can't seem to think of one." James and Remus gave Sirius pointed looks. He shuffled uncomfortably under their scrutiny.

"Oh! It's Marion and Melvina! I'll be right back sweetie!" Jeanie kissed Sirius' cheek and ran off to meet her friends.

"Look guys, I would, but I'm taken now. Not to mention the fact that we all know that Kitten's not the kind of girl to let me do that."

"You're only dating her for shallow, self-centered, egotistical reasons, and it's not even working! And nobody implied _that_!" Lily exclaimed. "I've seen the way you _still_ look at her, Black, and don't think that you haven't been. Just because you two aren't sneaking around the school to do Merlin-knows-what doesn't mean that you don't still have feelings for her. And even if you don't, you still call each other friends. Be her friend and keep her away from those books! I don't care if you have to abduct her to the quittich pitch again!"

"I'll have you know that she went of her own free will!"

"I _knew_ you two were-" James was interrupted.

"Siiiiiiiiiiriuuuuuuuuuuuuus!" Jeanie's high-pitched voice called from across the grounds. Sirius walked over to her and her annoying group of friends. James, Remus, Lily and Peter watched as he kissed her, then casually walked away.

"That takes care of one problem...for the moment." Sirius muttered as he walked back to the castle.

"Well," Lily said smugly, "that was easy."

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"_No, no, no!" Kate said to herself as she scratched out yet another wrong answer. "I can't forget to-"_

"_Hey Kitten." A familiar voice drifted from behind her. She willed it to just be another dream, she turned around and saw her tormentor, in all his glory, only twenty times more miserable then she had ever seen him. "Are you mad at me?" She jolted upright, surprised at Sirius' presence. He pulled out a chair and sat in it backwards, leaning his forearms against the back of it as he looked at her across the table. "Can you ever forgive me?"_

"_Why would I be mad at you?" She asked once she had found her voice, even though she knew the answer._

"_Well, we had a good thing going, then I randomly went and asked out another girl. Then I-"_

"_Then you acted like a complete and utter prat, avoided me, and left me to figure out the hidden meanings and metaphors in some crap play that was written before Dumbledore was born?" She finished for him. "Yeah, I forgive you; that's what friends do." They both knew that she was only saying half of the truth. They both knew that she didn't completely forgive him. They both knew that they were more then friends...before._

"_I've been a horrible friend to you." He said sadly. He reached out a hand and stroked her cheek, tracing the circles under her eyes with his thumb. He leaned across the table, his lips brushed hers._

"_Where's Jeanie?"_

"_Who's Jeanie."_

"_Your girlfriend."_

"_Mourning her loss." He leaned in and was about to kiss her again, this time releasing their entwined passion,_ but she bolted awake, and found herself utterly alone, again. She cursed herself for not being able to sleep without those kinds of thoughts plaguing her subconscious. Those sorts of dreams were the reason she forced herself to stay awake by studying, reading, or running around the common room and jumping on the various pieces of furniture.

She groaned and let her head fall into her hands. Nothing ever turned out like she thought it should.

"Why are you doing this to yourself, Katie?" She heard a familiar voice ask from above her.

"It's none of your business, Jake. Don't you have a class you should be teaching?" Her words burned with contempt.

"Not at the moment, no. You aren't doing yourself any favors, you know."

"Go away."

"No."

"Well, if you're not going to leave, could you get me something to eat? I'm hungry."

He eyed the numerous empty candy wrappers stuffed in her school bag. "You obviously just stuffed yourself, you can't be hungry already."

"Then why do I feel so empty inside?" She asked sadly. She looked so small and fragile. He just wanted to keep his little sister safe, but she wouldn't let him anymore.

He sighed and conjured up a plate of fruit for her, even though he knew that if Madame Pince saw it she would have both of their hides. He couldn't watch her slowly smother out the flame inside that was her very essence, so he left the library, a sad look on his face.

Jake was about to walk down the hall when he saw a peculiar sight. Sirius Black was about to enter the library. He got to the door, stalled, then turned around and walked back the way he came, only to return to the door after going only twenty feet. He continued the process, grumbling to himself about a "cunning, deceptive, guilt-wrenching woman" and "Evans - mutter grumble mutter - Potter sees in her - grumble mutter-"

Professor Hood noticed that with each trip he made, Sirius was getting farther and farther away from the library door, but he would walk back to it quicker. He also had yet to notice the teacher's presence even though he often got within two meters of him. However, his lack of awareness gave Jake some time to study the boy, he had seen him talking to Katie on many occasions and wondered about her friends. To his dismay, the back of Black's head looked vaguely familiar, and he knew where he had seen it before. His eyes went wide.

A blue turtle-neck sweater popped into his mind, as well as a few strawberry colored hickeys on his little sister's throat, and a tapestry of the goblin rebellion.

Jacob swiftly turned on his heels and walked quickly away from the library and those trying to enter it before he murdered a student and got himself fired.

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"Keaton, isn't it?" Someone said from the other side of the stacks.

"Yeah, who wants to know?"

A darker version of Sirius slowly walked out from between the two high shelves of books.

"You're Sirius' brother, Regulus, right?"

"Right. And you're the mother of his children." Her smile was small, and a bit sad. "Don't tell me the rumors were wrong, I was so looking foreword to being an Uncle."

"Let's just say there was a miscarriage." 

"Not a huge surprise." She raised an eyebrow at him. He walked in the usual Slytherin manner, cocky and smooth, to the desk and leaned against it, giving her an all-knowing look. "You have no idea what it was like at home when he was there, he's not exactly used to being in an intimate relationship, with actual feelings. It makes sense that he would push it away."

"But we didn't..."

"Make no mistake, Keaton, he felt something. Why else would he try so hard to prove he couldn't have? It's almost baffling, really."

"I'll say it is. What is?"

"I actually looked up to him, thought he was so brave, running away like that. Guess I was wrong."

"What are you talking about? You two hate one another, you never speak and...and...you're just dysfunctional!"

"Obviously you were mislead. I never knew I was such a good actor. Its true, we've always had our differences, but we're still brothers." He paused for a moment, studying her carefully. "I assume that you are aware that this conversation is never spoken of again?"

"Why are you even here in the first place?"

"It will piss him off. Besides, all the Slytherins are out torturing muggle-borns or something and I told them I had detention."

"You're a big softy then."

"Lies, all lies." He winked at her and stood up to leave. "My sense of timing, being impeccable, tells me to leave now. "You should eat something." He picked up a nectarine and bit into it's juicy flesh as he walked out the door, a smirk planted on his features.

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'_This shouldn't be so hard.' _Sirius thought as he made yet another trip to the dreaded door or the school's torture chamber. He wasn't sure if it was a torture chamber because there were all of those books and one was forced to be quiet inside, or if it was because _She_ was in there.

He looked to the door as it opened, revealing his brother while he smirked and ate.

"Remember what I said, Keaton." He regarded Sirius, nodded, and continued. He was going the other way, back to the dungeons.

Sirius was not a happy man as turned away from the door and stalked back down the hall. He was almost to the corner-

'_The best things in life are always worth fighting for._'

He quickly turned around and basically ran back to the door. He stopped, again. This was what he had wanted. She hated him so she avoided him. He never saw her, then he got over her. Then they would both move on with their lives and could honestly say to themselves and anyone else that it was only a fling.

'_But it wasn't._'

The words hit him like a brick wall. He groaned in frustration and sank to his knees. They had something. Lily was right, along with James and Remus, and he was too blinded by fear to see it. He deserved to be suffering the way he was, to see her in the halls, to smell her perfume on his old shirt, but never touch her or comfort her as she fell into oblivion. He deserved it, but she didn't deserve to fall.

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**Author's Note!!!! **(It's just so exciting!)

You all know that I don't own Harry Potter or any related characters. That's the disclaimer...again.

Special thanks to those who reviewed (extra cookies and milk for all of you! Santa didn't want them)

**bobbyandrogue**

**Snuffles-sweetie**

**fastfashiondispatch**

**anyavioletta**

You made my day...days.

Just wanted to put a bit of Regulus in there, and sorry if I spelled it wrong. After reading DH I've wondered about him and what he was really like. Obviously he wasn't like the rest of his family, but not to the same extent that Sirius and Andromeda weren't. He held some kind of loyalty to them, but it's hard to saw how deep it ran, you know? Have fun reviewing and telling me your own theories!


	13. I Hope For Your Sake I Taste Good

Katherine was eating a peach from the plate Jake had left her. It was perfectly ripe. She reveled in eating real food for the first time in a long time. She forgot what she had been missing. There was no point in staying in the library now, her cover was blown by both Jake and Regulus. She packed up her things, including the platter of fruit, and set off out the door.

She walked to the door and saw one of the last people she expected; Sirius Black. She gave him a small smile and a nod before brushing past him and heading to the dormitories.

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It took him all of seventy-three minutes, but Sirius finally worked up his nerve to try to open the door. It was a big step, to be sure. He didn't get a chance to actually turn the knob, however, before someone threw the door open and stopped. Then he saw _Her_. It almost hurt him. As much as they pretended to still be friends, they hadn't even dared look one another in the eyes since that fight. He knew that he missed her, he just didn't know how much until he looked into her eyes. They looked different. That ever-present gleam of humor, sarcasm, mischief, whatever it was it was gone.

Then she walked around the corner and he lost control of his movements. He hadn't meant to, but he somehow ended up chasing after her.

"Kitten, wait." His voice echoed down the deserted corridor. It sounded desperate, even to him. "Please. I need to talk to you."

"What do you want this time Black?" She rounded on him. Her tone was angry, her expression was hurt. "Are you going to tell me I'm a whore? No, you would never say that. You would word it to hurt me as deeply as you possibly could. You're good with words, Black. You can make someone feel so important and special, and you can tear them down to the final vestiges of lost dignity." She looked away, but he still saw the moisture starting to gather on her lashes. "No, I don't want to hear anything you have to say, Black."

She started to walk away. Never in his life did watching a woman walk away from him. Never before did he wish that she would turn around and give him one smile, a wink, to just _look_ at him. But he knew that was asking too much.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly. His voice was thick with emotions he never knew he possessed. "I know that you'll probably never forgive me, I know I don't deserve it, but I am sorry and I'll do anything to prove that to you." He paused and looked at her still form, she was listening to him. He felt lighter, maybe there was hope after all. "I'll live everyday for you, I'll-

"Sirius, just stop." She turned around and looked at him. "If you go any farther I might think that these are declarations of your feelings for me or something." She smiled. "You are right though, it will take a while for to forgive you. At least you took that first step." She turned her back on him again and walked away.

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She stood in the middle of the quittich pitch, shivering and clutching her light sweater to herself. It was December and it had yet to snow. Stranger things had happened, she was sure, but it still didn't feel right to see the barren ground so close to Christmas.

Who was she kidding? Nothing felt right lately, and it wouldn't feel like Christmas for a long time. Why had she ever decided that a walk around the grounds would clear her mind? No matter what she did, no matter how clear or muddled her mind might have been, her thoughts always reverted back to him.

She was relieved that Sirius had apologized, but she couldn't be sure that he meant it. For all she knew he was forced to by James because Lily asked him to. She could never be sure of where his allegiances would lie because he kept his cards close to his chest and revealed very little about himself, to her anyway.

Why was she even at the quittich pitch? This was where it had all started, everything. The sneaking, the lies he told her, when she fell for him.

Her drooping lids immediately flew open. She fell for him? She never...but that would explain why she was taking everything so hard. No. She was hurt, to be sure, but she wasn't heart-broken. No, she was just piled with stress and the whole 'Sirius thing' (as she had come to refer to it) had been just enough to set her off the edge.

It started to rain and she lifted her head to the sky, feeling the ice-cold droplets hit her skin and steal what little warmth she had managed to salvage. She let it all go. Any doubts, and thoughts, any worries, they were all washed away with the December rain.

A trail of warmth traveled down her cheeks and she realized that she was crying. Her resolve had broken. She let the tears fall. She cried for her lost bond with her brother, for her mother's distance and erratic behavior, for her last year of safety at Hogwarts, but most of all, she cried for Sirius. She let the tears mingle with the rain on her cheeks for the loss of all the things that could have been.

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Padfoot playfully nudged Mooney as he ran ahead of him, daring his friend to chase after him. Wormtail sat on Prongs' shoulders and squeaked in surprise as the werewolf passed them with such tremendous speed.

Sirius let his tongue loll out of his mouth lazily as he ran ahead of his friend to the open grounds of Hogwarts.

Mooney tackled him and he started to fight with him. They happily rolled around on the ground, nipping and biting each other playfully as they went. Prongs shook his head in good-humor, his antlers making a whooshing sound through the air as he did. Wormtail squeaked again. Mooney wanted to play with the little rodent, but Padfoot stopped him by nipping his flank and drawing the attention back to himself.

The werewolf's tongue drooped from his jowls as he was about to pounce on the large black dog and continue their game. Suddenly, his nose twitched as he sniffed the air, his head shot up into the air and his eyes became hard and focused on some unseen thing in the distance.

He ran after the scent, his sudden departure making it harder for the others to catch him.

Padfoot let his canine instincts take over as he ran after the large lupine creature, trying desperately to understand what had made him abandon the rest of them so unexpectedly. His keen nose caught a familiar aroma on the breeze. His human mind raced. He recognized that smell, it still clung to some of his clothes, he often caught whiffs of it in the halls between classes and felt like an idiot for dwelling on something he had tried so hard to get rid of.

It was coming from the quittich pitch.

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She heard it before she saw anything. She knew that it undoubtedly wasn't a good thing to hear heavy panting and feel the thud of an animal's running feet on the ground in the middle of the might, but she clung to the last bit of optimism left in her, hoping it was a unicorn, or a giant three-headed puppy. She may as well wished for the Loch-Ness monster and the yeti to show up holding hands and throwing free chocolate at all the little children that would no doubt be (overweight and) following them. What she did see caused a sharp intake of breath. She froze and stared at the large creature running toward her from the opposite team's goal posts.

Closer.

It was a large animal, no doubt from the canine family. The only difference from it and a dog would be its massive size and how its hind legs were longer then the front, and the fact that it was currently foaming at the mouth. It ran on all fours, obviously for speed and traction, its gaze hungrily taking her in.

Closer.

She knew from the beginning that there was no point trying to run away; she was a crap runner and it just took half of the quittich pitch in seconds. She started to feel regrets for all of the things she left unsaid to all of the people she cared about. She wouldn't have the chance to patch things up with her brother, catch up with her mum, or start over with Sirius.

"Well," She said to the werewolf, "I hope for your sake I taste good, because I'm not getting anything out of this."

There was no chance to escape now, even if she somehow thought to pull out her wand (which was still up in the common room with her books and secret stash of the best, and least healthy, candy known to woman-kind). She accepted her fate and stood there, watching intently. She was in fact astounded by the fluidity and grace of the creature, she found it almost comforting that the thing that was about to devour her moved so beautifully. Almost.

She was going to die.

All at once, a blur came out of nowhere and tackled the werewolf to the ground, the force of impact making them land a good ten meters away.

She blinked once, twice, as she tried to see what had just happened. A gigantic black dog stood up and shook the rain and dirt from its coat. The werewolf stood as well, but looked right back at her. The dog caught its attention by letting out a blood-curdling snarl, arching its body and letting its wet fur stand up. the wolf simply swiped it away with its front paw, causing the poor thing to yelp and hit the ground with a muted thud.

The wolf advance on her once again, this time more slowly and deliberately. She stared into his brown eyes and smiled at it. If she was going to die she was determined to do it with a smile, lest she be one of those people in the casket that looked so somber and completely devoid of love in their lives. (Not that she was likely to have an open casket after what the werewolf was probably planning, or even a corpse for that matter.)

The dog recovered quickly enough, and leapt on the wolf's back, piercing its shoulder with those long fangs. The wolf somehow managed to grab the dog and throw it off of his back, making him land right in front of the prey. The dog stood up, shakily, and bristled and snarled once more, clearly not going to give up anytime soon.

"Thank you." She murmured to her protector, her arms still clinging to her sides, her whole body still trembling.

Then, her world went dark.

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Author's note!!!

I wanted to write something exciting. Part of me just wanted to see if I could. Many of you are probably wondering how the hell all of that happened if Mooney was so fast. Well, I'll tell you. Most of that were Kate's thoughts, and thoughts happen on many layers at many speeds and level of consciousness. Not many of these thoughts were forced, they just kind of popped into her head and floated away. Is that the way most people think or is it just me? Anyway, I hope everyone enjoyed this installment of Seriously, It's Just a Fling. (Should I change the title? I only picked it after deliberating for a few seconds when I realized that I needed one. Any input would be nice.)

On to our lucky winners this evening! All of the following will receive an un-dead monkey! YAY FOR YOUS!

fastfashiondispatch

anyavioletta

Snuffles-sweetie

Sirius-Baby (dontcha just love the new name?)

Toad321

**HAPPY NEW YEAR YOU GUYS!! **


	14. Are You Legal?

Padfoot heard Katherine's body hit the ground with a muted thud and looked over to see if she was alright. Mooney took the opportunity to swipe the troublesome dog away with his massive paw. He landed near the girl he had been trying to protect, pain shot through his entire being. How could he protect her now? He did the last thing he could think of. He crawled as quickly as his bruised and broken body would let him and covered her body with his own and whimpered when he smelled the salty tears on her cheeks. He had hurt her once, he wouldn't let anything hurt her again.

Mooney drew nearer. His stench filled Padfoot's senses, his blood-lust was palpable.

Finally, the sound of galloping hooves could be heard, quickly getting closer. Finally, Prongs had caught up.

The stag wedged himself between the werewolf and the pair on the ground and pounded its front hooves on the ground, shaking his head and snorting his challenge. The wolf had other ideas. The stag put his head down and forced the wolf back with his menacing antlers. Mooney inched farther and farther away from his prey.

They continued like this until they were at the Whomping Willow. Wormtail quickly shot over to the knot-hole and into the opening that appeared. Mooney followed, and Prongs brought up the rear.

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Sirius changed back into his human form once he thought it was safe enough and cradled the girl under him close to his chest.

"We need to get you inside." He whispered. He put one arm under her shoulders, the other behind her knees, and carried her, with much difficulty, into the castle.

"Madam Pomfrey!" He kicked the closed door to the hospital wing. "It's an emergency, open up!"

The disheveled healer opened the door and looked at them through half-lidded eyes. She took in Katherine's unconscious form, and Sirius' tattered robes and quickly woke up, ushering them in to some empty beds.

Sirius waited patiently for the healer to finish checking over Katherine and telling him how she was. He was already in a sterile bed, and sterile hospital pajamas, with his head and sides bandaged. Madam Pomfrey had flat-out refused to heal him magically because (as she said) he was always getting himself into this kind of trouble and maybe a little pain would finally snap him out of it. (How little she knew about the great and wonderful Sirius Black.) she would come around though, he was sure of it, it would just a little pain and a lot of waiting. Or was that a lot of pain and a little waiting? He wasn't sure which sounded more promising at the moment.

"Are you still awake?" She looked surprised as she peeked around the corner and met his gaze.

He bolted up in the bed. The he slowly lay back down, hissing, because of the searing pain that went through his whole body.

"How is she?" He winced.

"She'll be fine. Just over-tired and under-nourished. It was probably just stress that pushed her over the edge." Her motherly demeanor quickly changed, however, and the inquisition began. "What were you two doing on the grounds at such a late hour? And what did you meet to cause you such bodily harm?"

"I-I can't tell you that, ma'am. You'll probably have to talk to Dumbledore, he'll need to know that we're here anyway, right?"

"Um-hm." She tutted, gave him a _look_ (one that meant "I am not pleased with you, young man.") and left the wing, her shoes squeaking as she went.

Sirius turned over and stared at the curtain that separated them, willing himself to see through it. He felt that this was all his fault, and knew that even if it wasn't he would still blame himself. He had to apologize again. If only she would wake up.

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Sirius had no idea when he had drifted off, but he was very surprised to wake up face to face with the headmaster.

"Good morning, Mister Black. I hope you slept well." Dumbledore said kindly.

"Good morning sir. Yes sir, thank you sir." Sirius stuttered back.

"My, my, Sirius, since when have you been at a loss for words? You've been sent to me often enough to get over that, haven't you?" His eyes twinkled in amusement.

"Yes sir, it's just-" He sighed and looked at the bland white sheet that covered him. "-I did something incredibly stupid last night that put quite a few lives in danger."

"Yet we are all alive and kicking, so to speak. I have already spoken to the rest of your friends, and they wanted to come in and speak to you, but they were all rather tired, so I sent them to bed. They are perfectly fine. Mister Lupin is in here, however. It seems his shoulder was hurt during an encounter with an animal of some kind." Sirius looked down once again. "I'm sure he would like to speak with you. Miss Keaton is still sleeping, and it has been requested that she be able to wake on her own accord."

"Yes sir." Sirius nodded vigorously.

"Good. I probably have some head-masterly thing to be doing at the moment, so I shall take my leave. Good day Mister Black."

"Good day, sir." Dumbledore left the hospital wing, humming a little ditty to himself.

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Katherine groaned and rolled over. The feeling was strange to her, this 'sleep' thing that she had been experiencing. It left her feeling groggy, dopey and lethargic. She wiped the sleep from her eyes and looked around the barren, white room, then she hid under the barren white sheets. It didn't help.

"So, you've finally come around then?" A familiar voice said. "I was getting rather worried about you."

She turned to look at him and smiled despite her burning retinas.

"Hey Sirius. How did you get here?"

"I brought you here last night. It's the afternoon now." He looked at her "Do you remember anything that happened?"

"Yeah. There was a werewolf, I think."

"You think?"

"Well, I try not to make a habit of being personally aquatinted with nocturnal beasties that could tear me limb from limb."

"Fair enough, what else do you remember?"

"There was a dog, it protected me." She bolted up and looked around the wing frantically. "Do you know what happened to it?"

"He'll be fine. He just had a concussion, two broken ribs and a few bruises." He poured her a glass of water from the pitcher on the table next to her. "Here, you must be thirsty."

"Thanks. Why aren't you in class?" She accepted the glass and took a drink.

"Well, my dear, I have a few bruises, a couple of broken ribs and a mild concussion."

She stared at him, wide eyed. He was afraid she was going to choke on her water. He was even more worried that she would do like at the year's first feast and spit it all over him in shock.

"Are you legal?" She asked quietly. He laughed at how that phrase could be misconstrued. "A legal animagus, you...I thought I said no dirty thoughts!"

"How did you know I was thinking something dirty if your mind wasn't in the gutter as well?"

"Regardless." She waved her hand in a dismissive manner. Sirius chuckled a bit, but then he remembered the circumstances of his visit (and the reason he got to skip had to miss his classes that day).

"Merlin, Kitten! What the hell were you doing, trying to get yourself killed?! Do you have any idea what could have happened? You could have been killed, or even infected! Or KILLED!!!!!"

"I'm sorry, okay? I didn't know there was a werewolf running around on school property. Hell, I didn't even know it was a full moon!" She huffed and crossed her arms angrily. How _dare_ he blame her for what had happened.

"Why were you even outside?" He asked, his time in a calmer tone.

"I needed to clear my head. There were plenty of things to sort out, believe me."

"Like what?"

"Like how odd it is that I love a nice cold rain on my face." She looked away sadly. "Like how my mother and I used to be so close, but we've been losing touch because of school, and me constantly being mad at her for moving us around constantly. Like how my brother gave me a talk the other day about handing assignments in late, when he was the one that thought that me going to two schools was a brilliant idea. Like how a very good friend of mine hurt me and then had the audacity to apologize out of the blue." She looked at him. "Then saved my life. Thank you Sirius."

"So, does this mean that you've forgiven me?"

"I forgave you when you apologized, I just didn't know it." The sparkle returned to her eyes and he swore we had never felt so light in his entire life. "Besides, I had to act like I didn't so that you wouldn't think that I was a push-over, thus taking advantage of my wonderfully kind nature."

"And modest too." He joked. He was so relieved that she had chosen to forgive him he felt like his heart was going to burst with the feeling.

"What happened after I passed out?"

"A stag and a rat saved us by forcing the 'nocturnal beastie' into a tree." He thought for a moment, did hearts normally burst with relief? Well...they did for Sirius, because any other option was too drastic for him to think about.

For the moment.

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**Author's Note!**

Special thanks to those who reviewed last chapter, all of you get a potato cooked to your specifications (scalloped, baked, mashed, b-b-q-ed, whipped, fired, hash-browned, deep-fried, ect.)

That means you:

Snuffles-sweetie

fastfashiondispatch

Keisha.cl

anyavioletta

Sirius-Baby

I hope I haven't dashed you hopes too much with this chapter, I had to write it over a couple of times. I just couldn't get everything in the way I wanted. 8( Not happy about that. Tell me what you thought. And if you happen to be a reader who's name is not on the above list, just review and you can be on the next one! (If you don't like potatoes, don't worry, I hand out other stuff on request! lol)

Please review before you go, it's only polite after all.


	15. Open Up For The ChooChoo!

Last time:

"_What happened after I passed out?"_

"_A stag and a rat saved us by forcing the 'nocturnal beastie' into a tree."_

"Sirius...are you being...serious?" He ignored her question and suddenly found the non-existent lint on his pyjamas very interesting. She started muttering to herself. "A stag and a rat...Prongs and Wormtail...and you're Padfoot...but that means..." She shot up in bed and stared wide-eyed at her hospital-mate. "Where's Remus!? Is he okay?" She threw back the covers and jumped out of bed, with a bit of a wobble, before Sirius had the chance to stop her. She came to a stop, then threw back the only drawn curtains in the ward. Sirius followed as quickly as he could, considering his broken ribs.

Remus turned to his friends, his face was a mess of emotion. Fear, desperation, but mostly a never-ending sorrow. He never looked them in the eyes. He hadn't slept since he was taken to the hospital wing early that morning because of what had happened the night before.

"I'm sorry, so sorry."

"Come on, mate, we all know that I was the one that suggested the little outing for old times sake. We also know that I never take no for an answer and never know what's good for me. It wasn't your fault." Sirius said from behind Katherine's trembling form.

"Did I...did either of you...?"

"Neither of us were infected, if that's what you mean." His friend's features relaxed considerably, though not completely. "Kitten just woke up, it was stress that knocked her out not you. And I'll heal...eventually. Poppy wants me to heal the old fashioned way, to teach me a lesson."

"Oh, Remus." Kate said, it was all she could think of.

"So, you know then? It's fine. You can avoid me, whatever, just d me one last favor and try not to tell anyone else. Dunbledore might talk to you about that, too." Again, he couldn't meet her eyes. If he did he would have seen the pain he had just caused her.

"What kind of a person do you take me for?" She asked him angrily. "Do you honestly think that I'm just some shallow little girl? One who won't stand up for their friends and stand by them? Because if you do you are sorely mistaken, Remus. If I were to abandon you, that would not only make me an idiot, but a hypocrite as well, and my house colors are not green and silver." She smiled warmly at him. "I'll always be here for you, Rem, don't ever doubt that."

Finally, he looked her in the eye and saw her sincerity.

"Thanks." he choked out. He was close to tears. She decided to save him any more strife and jumped on his bed, wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

"REEEEEEMUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!" She yelled happily. He groaned, she had landed on his sore shoulder. "Oh, Merlin, I'm sorry! Sirius did that, didn't he? You should never forgive him for that, never never never! So good to see that you're alright! I was terribly worried once I figured out it was you, what with Sirius being so rough with you. Not to mention the fact that you would, of course, think that everything was all your fault, but honestly, what was I doing in the middle of the quittich pitch that late at night during the full moon? You needn't fret over it, nope!" She felt horrible to have put him into such a situation, guilty even.

"Kitten?" Sirius said. She, naturally, ignored him and chatted away happily, not once noticing Remus' drooping lids. "KITTEN!" Her head darted up, her eyes wide. "Mooney needs his rest, we should go."

"Oh...I suppose you're right. Bye Rem!" She kissed his cheek and got of the bed, following behind Sirius.

"What? No kiss for me? I'm hurt, I saved your life!"

"Yes, but it was probably your fault that this happened in the first place."

"You understand the group dynamic too well. You must be eliminated."

"And how is that usually done?"

"Well, we've never actually had to eliminate anyone, but we took a vote and decided that it should be death by asphyxiation."

"Lack of oxygen? How do you intend to follow through with that one?"

"Oh, I have my ways." He smirked flirtatiously and leaned closer. "You would be very lucky, to die by my methods."

"Really?" She raised one brow.

"Really." He leaned closer yet again. They were a breath apart, and then-

"Learned your lesson yet, Mister Black?" Madam Pomfrey asked as she entered the room. "It's about time I healed those ribs of yours." She started looking at labels on different bottles from the cabinet corner.

"Knew you'd come around, Poppy, but can you give us just a moment please?"

"What was that?" She hadn't heard him through her search, or she just chose to ignore his little comment.

"Am I all set to go, Madam Pomfrey?" Katherine asked innocently.

"Of course, dear, you just take care of yourself from now on, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." She turned back to Sirius and whispered silkily in his ear, "I'll thank you later...when there's a little less drama attached, understand?"

"What drama?" He asked breathlessly. She was so close.

"SIIIIIIIIIRIIIIUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUSSS!!!!" Jeanie screeched from the open door, no visitors were allowed yet. (Katherine and Sirius both sent a silent thanks to the healer tapping her foot impatiently.) "What are you doing in there with _her_?"

"This is a _hospital_, Jeanie, people are resting." Kate said as she sauntered out the door. "We were just checking on the 'babies'." She shot Sirius' 'girl-friend' a knowing look.

"I just knew that rumor was going to come back and bite me." She muttered darkly.

Sirius didn't hear her, but Katherine didn't care if he knew. The only thing that mattered was that she knew, and she knew that she knew.

"Jeanie," Sirius said once Katherine was out of ear-shot, "just wait for me a moment, we need to talk."

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"He...he...broke up with meeeee!" Jeanie gasped to her friends between crying fits at supper that evening. Most of the girls at the Ravenclaw table comforted her and shot Sirius scathing looks. While their poor, down-trodden friend was busy sobbing into her meal, they watch the interaction across the hall and talking amongst themselves.

"Look at that, he's feeding her."

"What a ponce."

"How dare he so soon after breaking up with Jeanie?"

"It won't last long, girls, look, they're already fighting." They all smirked devilishly.

"Oh, she's leaving!"

"That's right, leave and never come back."

"He's begging her to stay!"

"That ponce!"

"What an ass!"

"And now she's...laughing...they're both laughing? Why are they both laughing?"

"Maybe she really is pregnant. Wait, girls, think about it, he was forcing her to eat, she's having major mood swings...maybe Jeanie was on to something when we started spreading that rumor."

"Oh." The other girls said with understanding.

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"Eat it." Sirius shoved it at her face. She turned away.

"No."

"Eat it."

"No!"

"I said eat it, damn you!"

"And I said no bloody way!"

"Come on! It's good and gooo-oood for you!" He sang.

"How many times do I have to tell you that I find that particular food to be utterly repulsive?"

"Open up for the choo-choo!"

"Dammit Sirius!" She slapped the fork out of his hand. It clattered over the table, flinging the offending substance across the room, landing on the head of an un-suspecting Slytherin. Sirius and Katherine, however, ignored the clamor and continued their argument.

"Listen, Kitten, you haven't been eating well, and you're still looking a bit peaky. I'm only trying to fix you up to the way you used to be." Sirius said sincerely.

"I don't need your mollycoddling, Sirius, I need some food that doesn't taste like burnt sh-"

"Nice to see you two aren't getting along again." James said as he pushed himself in between them. "It's sad to say, but I've actually missed your arguments."

"Now you know why I keep waiting for you to mess up with Lils, that's quality entertainment. And we were merely having a discussion."

"Discussion, huh?" He swallowed his mashed potatoes and continued. "Well, I'm lad all of our discussions aren't that heated."

"Trust me, _Prongs_," She said, sending him a haughty glance, "this is far from how 'heated' we can be."

"Now, I understand why he likes you so much. One-track minds, the both of you."

"She dusts too." Sirius teased.

"No I don't."

"Well, I never!" Sirius threw up his arms in fake outrage. "If that's the way you feel, then we have nothing left to say. Good bye!" He turned away from her.

"Fine! But the twins are coming with me and you'll never get the chance to hold them again!" She stood up, making her chair clatter to the ground. She was trying so hard not to smile at the look on Sirius' face. He was good.

"NO! Not my babies!" He hugged her waist and started stroking and talking to her belly. "Don't worry, babies, Daddy'll find a way."

She laughed, he reveled in it.

"Sirius, you do realize that I'm not actually pregnant with your children, right?"

"I don't care, I'll treat them as though they were my own, I swear it!" She laughed louder, harder, and he was in heaven.

'_Damn, I've really lost it now, haven't I?_' It was true, Sirius Black was long gone, but he knew that he couldn't have her. He wouldn't let himself hurt her again.

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**Author's Note!!!! **YAY[does 'author's note' dance

I'm sorry for the delay in updating, but you'll have to bear with me for a while, they've got me working just about every day this week (All week-end, those bleeps). I'm not even joking, 25 hours. Ugh. Updates won't be as regular as when I was on Christmas break, either. 8(

This time, you all get **milk and cookies**! So be happy, and enjoy your tasty treat (courtesy of Sirius-Baby)

anyavioletta

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Snuffles-sweetie

Sirius-Baby

Laura (anonymous, but very appreciated...however, if she had an account I could reply...)

MilitaryMaurader

REVIEW MY PRETTIES!


	16. It's Nothing To Be Ashamed Of

It had been twenty-seven days. Twenty-seven days since Kitten had found out about the Marauders' secret. Twenty-seven days since Sirius had broken up with Jeanie. Twenty-seven days that Sirius had been driving himself crazier by the day, flirting with her (albeit, less obviously then he had been), being near her, and forcing himself to never act on any of the many impulses he had to drag her off to the nearest empty room and-

"-foot? You in there, mate?" James distant voice called him from his haze. Who knew that a few days without snogging anyone would affect him so much?

"What?!" The Black shot into the air from the reclined position on James bed, the other three lounging around the room talking about something or another. (And what was he thinking, 'a few days without snogging'? It had practically been a month!)

"I was just asking if you wanted to do a kitchen run with us...are you feeling quite all right?"

"Yeah...yeah, I'm fine. Just a bit under the weather, I suppose." He pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the head ache he felt coming along. It was harder to ignore his urges around Christmas, when the opportunity arose to go on a walk with her and stop under every sprig of mistletoe in the entire castle. He was almost happy that _that_ was over. "You three go ahead to the kitchens, I think that I should probably lie down."

"Good idea." James nodded. The three boys left boisterously. Sirius sulked over to his own bed and promptly fell asleep once his head hit the mattress, one of his feet hanging over the edge, his arm dangling off the other side.

It was the dream about the brunette again. He both loved and loathed the nocturnal visits she paid him. She was so mysterious to him, yet so familiar. Every time he dreamt of her he felt more and more unsure, yet more full. Until he woke and she was forced to leave.

This time, he lay in the long grass of some faraway field as she knelt over him. Skin touching skin. She straddled his hips and there was a mischievous glint in her brown eyes made him suddenly crave chocolate. Her lips leaned in, searching for their mates. She licked her full bottom lip-

Sirius' eyes flew open as the door was thrown wide with a resounding _Bang_! James barreling into the room, Remus and Peter behind him.

"Now, come on guys, heez trying ta -hick- sleep. Lez not disturb him from his bootiful dreams, huh?" Great, they had been hitting the fire-whiskey.

"Whaddaya mean, Prongsie?" Remus inquired as he swayed on his feet.

"Siriuz haz been havin' feelings about a girl!"

"No! Not a girl!" Peter exclaimed. then, there was a thump, and more stuttering and giggling as Wormtail picked himself up off the floor.

"Yeah. Heez been thinkin' 'bout the girl way over theeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeere!" Sirius could only imagine the large, swinging gesture James was making with his arm. He had seen him drunk, and although it could be hilarious, it could also be very annoying when he had yet to consume any alcohol.

"The one in the common room?" Wormtail sounded on the verge of tears. Must have been the liquor.

"Yeah, her. Her thinks about her all the time! He doesn't know I know, so you guys can't tell him." Sirius could almost see James holding his finger to his lips in a child-like fashion as he hushed them, assuring that he had all of the attention and their promises to keep quiet if they happened to remember any of the conversation at all. "He never said it, but I know because o' the way he looks at 'er in class when he thinks no one's lookin', and sometimes, he looks so sad..." he could hear the pain in James voice as he described it to their friends, "..it's like heez never gonna act on it now 'cause he thinks he messed it up, be he -thump-" James had fallen onto his bed and was now talking to the curtains. "he didn' or else she wouldn' smile at him at that, ya know? They're almost as good togethur as me 'n' Lily."

"James..."Remus asked slowly, as though trying to keep his last meal in his gut. Although none of the three could have been described as sober, Remus was obviously the least drunk. That, or his innate smartness was just always there, despite any amount of alcohol consumed by the young werewolf. "...what's Lily going to do when she finds out what you just did?"

"Oh, no! Guys!" he whispered hoarsely, the panic evident in his drunken tone, "Hide me, she'll kill me!"

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Once Sirius was sure that the little angels (note his sarcasm) were sleeping soundly, he crept out of his bed and headed to the common room. Why was she there and not in bed? If she was studying again he had every intention of giving her a piece of his mind.

He silently ran down the stairs, frustration evident on his handsome features. He hadn't asked his friends to describe what he had been feeling. He hadn't wanted them to feel sorry for him, or analyze him. He should have gone to the kitchen with them, then they would have found something else to do then talk about his failure.

He saw her dark hair over the back of a chair. His mental raging stopped. Why did he keep doing this to himself?

She was asleep, he noticed that as he crept around the chair. He chest rose and fell in a slow, deliberate rhythm. On her lap was a book. Slowly, he took it from her hands and read the cover. Peter Pan, by J.M. Barrie.

He considered the possibilities. He could leave her, or he could move her. Considering that the chair didn't look very comfortable, he opted for the latter. But where? He couldn't get into her dorm because of the pesky little enchantment that he learned about the hard way two years earlier. There was always the couch, but that want much better then the chair. At that moment, however, there was an empty bed in the seventh-year boys' dorm.

He picked her up and remembered when he had to carry her to the school from the quittich field, twenty-seven days ago. It was much different this time. While he wasn't in excruciating pain, he also didn't have any adrenaline running through his veins to give him a boost.

With some trying, he managed to get her to the dorm, amidst the snoring for his drunken idiot friends. They wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. He lay her prone form on the bed and carefully pulled off her shoes. he was bout to pull the sheets over her body, but she started to stir.

"Sirius." She sighed breathlessly. He froze. Her eyes weren't open, so how did she know?

"Katherine?" He whispered. Slowly, one of her eyes opened, then closed again. She wasn't fully awake by any means.

"I'm dreaming." She said, sleep thick in her voice.

"Why do you say that?"

"You didn't call me Kitten." Her eyes were still closed, her words were mumbled and barely audible. "I don't want to wake up." She said. "Everything's so much harder when you wake up."

Before he could respond, her arms were around him, her face buried in is neck. He felt her lips moving against his skin, her breath warmed him from head to toe.

"If everything came to us easily, then nothing would never be worth it." He told her as he stroked her silky hair. Inhaling her fragrance.

He was losing himself to her again. If he didn't stop himself soon he knew that he wouldn't be able to. Normally, he would have jumped at such a chance. However, normally the girl was fully aware of what she was doing and there weren't three other people in the room.

"I have to go. You just keep sleeping, alright?"

"No, I want you to stay with me." He almost laughed at how plaintive she was being.

"Not now, Kitten. Maybe some other time, when I won't feel like a complete ass the next morning."

"Oh, alright." She muttered, her head still on his shoulder. He felt her breathing even out and her weight fall solely on him. She was fully asleep.

He gently lay her down on the bed again and covered her with the blankets and sheets. He gently stroked a few strands of dark hair off of her face and closed the bed-hangings to head for the couch.

She smelled like spring rain.

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Katherine bounded down the stairs in the wee hours of the morning in high spirits. She had woken up in a strange bed and had a panic attack, but then realized that she was fully clothed and basically alone and calmed herself.

It had taken her all of five seconds to figure out how she had gotten where she was by opening the curtains around the bed and seeing the marauders, minus one. Thus, the smile gracing her lips and the contentment in her eyes when she saw him stretched out, rather uncomfortably, on the couch in the common room.

"Sirius." She whispered in a sing-song voice, gently touching his shoulder. "It's time to wake up and talk to me."

"Didntoucheriswear!" He said as he bolted upright. She took the opportunity to sit next to him.

"What was that?"

"...nothing." She could have sworn she saw his him start to blush. "Did you sleep well, Kitten?"

"Yes. Thank you."

"Anytime, my dear, anytime."

"Come to think of it, I never really thanked you for saving my life."

"Of course you did," he smirked, "last night."

"What?! What did I do? What did _we_ do?!" He enjoyed being in control of the conversation at that moment.

"You're a sleep-walker." She saw the wheels turning under his messy (and gorgeous) hair. "But you do more then just walk..." She was about to start hyper-ventilating. It was one thing to sleep with someone, it was another to not remember it. "It's nothing to be ashamed of." He nuzzled her neck.

She was hyperventilating now. And he was laughing at her.

"Don't worry about it, Kitten. You basically tried to rape me, but nothing happened."

He looked at her flushed face and knew that after pulling something like that he shouldn't lean in so close. He understood that the last thing he should have been doing was looking at her lips with such hunger. But her hadn't kissed her since he made an ass of himself by way of asking out another girl. To touch her would definitely ruin his resolve to keep her safely away from him.

He wondered why he would have ever wanted something so foolish.

Moments later they were caught up in one another, their lips falling into the dance to which they could never forget the steps. Kate was positioned between Sirius and the couch, her hands grasping at his soft black hair, one leg wrapped around his lower-half. Sirius took a more active approach. His hands sliding down her sides, over her legs, exploring the body he had yearned for.

He started trailing kisses down her jaw, aching to taste her neck and feel her squirm beneath him. He enjoyed the power he had over her, and both feared and reveled in the same spell she had entranced him with.

"Mmm!" He heard from the body under him. He didn't know if it was a sign to go on, or to stop. "Sirius," she gasped, "wait a second, will you?"

"Fine, but only a second." The both sat up, fixing their clothes. Sirius was most disappointed in the turn of events. "What was it you wanted?"

"What about Jeanie?" She couldn't have been serious.

"Let's just say she's back in her lamp awaiting Aladdin."

"You two broke up? When?"

"You're telling me that you honestly had no idea this whole time? It's been almost a month."

"Why wouldn't anybody tell me?" Maybe it was the fact that they thought she already knew, or maybe they wanted to see what he would do, or _maybe_ they just didn't know how to bring it up in a conversation without making a very awkward situation.

"I don't know."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

"Yes, Kitten, I was going to walk up to you right after and say, 'hey, babe, I'm single now, want to go find a nice empty classroom?'"

"Aw! You're such a sweet-heart!"

"If that's what you want to call it..." He was silenced by her lips.

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Sorry it took so long to review my lovely reader peoples! I was stuck in a rut. Once I got out of the rut I was hit by writer's block. And I caught the mother of all colds. Ugh. As an apology, this chapter was a bit longer then the others. (How some people can update every-other day with huge chapters is beyond me you know who you are)

Now I have hiccups.

Special thanks, lots of love and...cupcakes for all who reviewed! (Every chapter there are more awesome penames on this list [sniffs you guys are amazing!)

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**BONUS QUESTION:**

Is it a sign of insanity when your twenty-year-old brother insists on referring to you as 'dummy-doo-doo-head'? Seriously, I want you to review and tell me what you think of that.


	17. We Could Make This Interesting

In the weeks leading up to the Dursley/Evans wedding, Katherine had her first round of muggle exams to look forward to, which really wasn't much. Of course, the students in her classes were very grateful as most of the professors knew about her hectic schedule and had slackened their policies on homework. Finally, she was finished. She found it comforting to know that all she had to do now was start new classes and do the whole thing over again. Note the sarcasm.

But, the day of the wedding was upon them all. They were just lucky that their catalogue orders had come in on time.

o0O0o

"Are you sure that's how you tie it?" Sirius asked James skeptically. They had been trying all morning and had yet to get their bow-ties to look like they were (supposedly) supposed to.

"Of course it is. Have I ever steered you wrong?" Sirius' mind automatically thought of a dozen instances where he had been steered wrong by his best friend in the years they had known one another. However, at the same time he also remembered many more instances that the exact opposite had happened, in the past few months alone.

"Right...a little help then?"

o0O0o

"Where are they?" Lily paced around Dumbledore's office, muttering under her breath. "There isn't much time left!"

"Relax, Lils, they'll be here soon."

"But what if they're not?" She was starting to sound frantic. It reminded Katherine of exams all over again.

"Then I'll be your date."

"This is no time for jokes!"

"There's always time for jokes, you need to lighten up. I swear to you that James isn't pulling anything like _that_ again anytime soon after the verbal lashing you gave him."

Suddenly, the door burst open and the two boys tumbled into the room. They both wore classic black suits and had slicked back their hair, neither girl could help but notice the grievous state of their ties.

"Sorry we're almost late." James said sincerely, trying desperately to keep himself from running his hand through his hair.

"Yeah, Prongs here couldn't get his damn hair down and had to be dragged away from the mirror to keep from inspecting it." He looked around the room as he closed the door and spied the Head-Master, sitting gracefully on his usual chair, his long fingers folded in front of him on his desk. "Good afternoon, sir."

"And to you, mister Black. You are looking rather dashing." His eyes twinkled merrily.

"I would have rather worn the orange one in the catalogue, but Evans said no." He pouted in Lily's direction.

"It would have clashed with Kate's dress."

"I would have worn the matching dress." Sirius suddenly noticed Katherine's burgundy backless dress, it stopped right below her knees. He quickly turned away before he started to openly gape.

"Trust me, no you wouldn't. I thought you knew about Petunia?" Lily was getting exasperated again so they chose to let it go. She had been more and more anxious about her sister's wedding, it didn't help that their dates were the school's most notorious pranksters.

The door opened again, this time more slowly and deliberately. A dark man, wearing expensive robes, walked into the room and surveyed the four teens and the old wizard at the desk.

"Katherine, my dear, how good to see you again." He smiled his crooked smile, the one filled with lies and misdeeds.

"Darius." She said haughtily, her back straightening and her chin lifting in defiance as he spoke to her.

"You look lovely, just like your mother, but you have your father's eyes."

"Funny, you look like you're up to something." She turned her back on her 'uncle'. "When is that port-key scheduled to leave, professor? We don't want to be late for that wedding." Her voice was cheerful, fakely so.

"In a few moments. Would you care to wait outside, mister Hood?"

"Actually, I came to speak with my niece."

"Unfortunately, such things must be scheduled in advance, and as she has a prior engagement..." Dumbledore trailed off.

"Then I suppose that I will have to return then. I will see you shortly, Katherine dear."

"I can assure you that you won't." Katherine glared at him while he smiled at her in what he must of thought a benevolent manner. (It was really far more malevolent then anything else.) "I won't cater to your needs just because of a bit of blood. You're really are nothing more to me the a nuisance."

"You would be surprised at how persuasive I can be, child."

"Oh, look the port-key's about to leave." Sirius said as the empty tea kettle started whistling.

Katherine was still glaring at Darius, and she didn't look like she was about to move anytime in the near future. Lily gave her an imploring look, she ignored it. James called her name, she didn't hear.

Finally, when it was almost too late, Sirius grabbed her and held it to the port-key with his own. In and instant, they were in front of a large building made of bricks with a pointed roof.

o0O0o

"Wow." Katherine said in awe. "Your sister went all out for this, Lils."

"Only the best for Petunia." She responded dryly. "Kate...are you sure-"

"I'm fine, Lily. We aren't near him and his twisted little games, so let's just enjoy the show, I mean wedding, and forget that it ever happened." Lily nodded and changed the subject.

"I wonder what her dress is going to look like."

If they would all have been honest, they would have said that they really didn't want to know. They were too terrified by what they saw in the churches decorations alone. There were flowers everywhere, a nice concept, but not when they're giant bouquets of over-sized flowers so thick that people could hardly walk down the aisles to sit down, and the ushers that were ushering people to their seats all looked like something straight out of the '60's. The 1660's.

Everything about the decor practically screamed that they were trying to out-do everyone they knew, only they didn't have enough room so they just shoved it all into the church with little or no regard to a person's safety. Or perhaps they just didn't know what to rule out, either way it all looked incredibly tacky.

"I swear, if they ask to seat me I'm going to burst out into a fit of giggles and they won't be stopped." Katherine said softly of the ushers in their ruffed collars and pouffy shorts (not to mention the tights).

"I know what you mean." Sirius replied, trying to stifle his own laughter. "Is this how all muggle weddings go, or does Evans' sister just have a great sense of humor?"

"Neither, unfortunately. If Petunia had any sense of humor at all, she would have thought that the old 'toad under the sheets' gag hilarious. As it was, I was lucky to survive that summer with my head intact."

"I had almost forgotten about that one." Lily sniggered into her hand.

"Maybe we should be finding seats, if we are even supposed to sit down. I think it's supposed to start soon." James said nervously as he saw all of the people on the 'bride' side of the church, which were all, therefore, related to the young woman on his arm at that moment.

"Lily, dear!" An older lady said as she waved to the group of teens. "You and your friends can sit here and keep an old woman company. What a handsome young man. You'll have to keep a hold of this one, dear."

"Of course, Aunt Marigold. Everyone, this is my father's aunt Marigold."

Sirius faintly wondered what was going on in the Evans family that they named all of their children after flowers. What was her father's name, Geranium?

"Aunt Marigold, this is James Potter," she blushed slightly from the sheer occasion that was introducing her boyfriend to the first member of her family, "of course you've already met Kate, and this is-"

"Sirius Black, at your service madam. And I must say that you look ravishing this fine evening." Sirius bowed over the lady's hand and kissed it.

"You can sit right here next to me, mister Black, and your lovely date on your other side, of course."

"'Lovely' doesn't quite compare to 'ravishing' though, does it." Katherine joked as they sat down, Lily and James on the other side of Aunt Marigold. Nobody felt the need to state that Sirius was, in fact, Katherine's date, and not the other way around.

The wedding started. It was a rather normal wedding. The groom and groomsmen were standing at the front of the church waiting for the ladies, and the cute little flower-girl and ring-bearer walked down the aisle in front of bridesmaids who were dressed in little-bow-peep meets frills, ribbons and more frills in a horrific shade of pink. It was all well and good in the pew filled with four teenage wizards and an older lady, they had managed to keep their laughter contained...until the bride walked down the aisle.

Petunia's dress could have been described in one word; huge. The skirt of the dress somehow managed to pouf out a good meter and a half on each side, almost suffocating poor Mister Evans in the process. The style was generally the same as her bridesmaids, layers of tulle, satin, ribbon, and fake satin flowers...and tulle.

Aunt Marigold was used to ostentatious brides and their pre-wedding decisions that they tend to regret days after the ceremony, Katherine and Sirius were another story entirely. They were both in stitches, trying to stifle their laughter, and being mostly successful. Although, most of the people around them thought that they were sobbing (the tears streaming down their cheeks added to the effect). James was more prosperous in such a feat, he simply avoided looking at the bride (and her rather intimidating father) altogether, finding the what he could se of the stained-glass windows to be quite interesting. Lily was somewhere in the middle. She, too, had laughter threatening to spill, however, years of thwarting James' ridiculous pick-up lines hadn't been for nothing. She had managed to watch her sister head toward the alter _and_ keep a straight face.

Next, was the wedding reception. There were less flowers and more comfortable seating. (obviously, the hall came pre-decorated.) Aunt Marigold had rearranged the seating so the she sat with 'those interesting young people' while they ate their meal (which was actually very good considering the couple's horrible taste). She was experienced in her old age with many things, the problems of youth being one of those things. She watched the two 'couples' as they talked and teased, the way they all acted toward one another. She was gathering useful information. Whether or not they knew that she was a spy sent on a mission by her nephew, they were nothing short of kind to her and included her in their conversations. Of course, it was very likely that Lily knew that her aunt was a spy, the others were just being nice so as to not cause either of them any grief. Besides, she was a funny old woman, full of life and wit.

"All right, everyone," Mrs. Evans stood up and got the attention of the people dining in the name of her daughter. She held up a glass bowl filled with pieces of paper. "it's time for a little game. In this bowl I have the names off all of the couples in this room. When I draw the name of a couple they have to stand up and give the newly-weds some advice to keep their marriage going strong for years to come, but here's the fun part," her eyes glistened much like Lily's did right after a well-written exam, "they must seal their advice with a kiss, and the bride and groom must try to duplicate it."

Many people had their names called, and gave the usual advice, 'don't go to bed angry' or 'always be the support he/she needs'. Then James' and Lily's names were called. Mrs. Evans looked on dreamily, while Mr. Evans looked very much like a tiger, just waiting for the opportune moment to go in for the kill.

"Are you sure your father won't murder me, Lily?" James asked nervously, pulling the suddenly tight collar away from his neck. The rest of the guests laughed.

"Oh, you'll be fine, I'll protect you." Lily turned to the head table and smiled at them. "the only advice I can give you is: be good to my sister Vernon." She looked at her date as he tried to keep from shaking under the gaze of her father. Getting fed up, she grabbed him by the collar and planted one right on his lips.

James, suddenly forgetting where he was, took her face in his hands and kissed back ardently.

Apparently, he _really _forgot where he was, because it took Sirius a good minute and a half to wrench the two apart.

"Are you daft? It looks like her dad is about to come over here a tear off your head." Sirius looked back over to Mister Evans. "Both of them."

James must have suddenly realized exactly what he was doing and who was watching. His face turned a shade of red any Gryffindor would have been proud of and sat back in his chair, hiding behind Lily for a moment or two while the bride and groom _tried _ the copy what the whole room had just witnessed. Then, the next couple was called.

"Oh, Katherine Keaton and Sirius Black." Mrs. Evans called to the room cheerfully. The two of them stood and looked at the crowd of people that they didn't really know.

"We could make this interesting." Sirius whispered to her. She laughed, he gave a cocky grin.

"Our advice is not to take life too seriously." Katherine smiled at the group of people.

"You'll never get out alive." Sirius finished. "Shall we, Kitten?"

"You're the man." She said offhandedly.

"That I am." He placed one arm around her shoulders, the other around her waist, and dipped her low before placing a kiss on her waiting lips. He felt her arms wrap around his neck as she kissed him back.

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Sorry you guys! It's been busy around here, school and work. Ugh. On the plus side, I gave you a pretty long one this time. Plus...I got my prom dress! It's so gorgeous, I lovie love love it!!!!

Tanks and hugs and...three wishes from a genie to all those who reviewed the last chapter! (wishes are not guaranteed to come true...)

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You guys make this story more interesting, and make me want to write it more. I LOVE YOU ALL! Happy V-day by the way! I think that there's a point where a person can get too much sleep, I am at that point.


	18. Are You Crazy Old Man?

The party was fully underway, but Katherine didn't feel much like celebrating. Something was uneasy in the back of her mind, what was bothering her was the fact that she didn't know what was bothering her. She escaped the hall and sat on the ground, watching the snow slowly descend from the heavens.

Eventually, she let herself fall into the soft - albeit cold - blanket of snow beneath her. It chilled her, which was just what she needed. The cold cleared her head and made her think...even though she wasn't quite sure what she was thinking about.

"You know, you're missing all of the festivities." She looked over and saw Sirius leaning on the door-frame. His hair had long since fallen out of its slicked-back style and had regained its casual elegance, she liked it better that way.

"It was getting old. There's only so much ribbon and tulle a person can take without going completely mad."

"I suppose you're right. However, you could always dance with me to take your mind off of it. I _did_ give up a lot to be here, you know."

"You practically begged me to invite you." She pointed out.

"True. Then I'll dance with you. Aunt Marigold is a great lady, but she doesn't have the stamina for more then one song at a time." Katherine gagged at the mental images (her dirty mind at work again). "Besides, Evans is about to introduce Prongs to her father. Should prove to be most entertaining; he tends to get rather jittery when he's nervous."

"You are a horrible person, but I suppose I am too since I'm so interested in seeing this." She smiled and followed her date.

It was amazing how people tended to converge during times of pain, destruction and sorrow.

o0O0o

"I really botched that up." James said into the bottle of butterbeer he had been handed. They had previously returned to the castle and made a little side-trip to the kitchens before going to bed.

"Slow down James, you only get the one bottle." Lily patted him on the arm. "And I'm sure you did splendidly, father hasn't said anything yet about your unworthiness of me."

"Good lord, Lily, how many boyfriends have you brought home?" Katherine asked.

"James would be the first, why?"

"Well, he's not going to say anything yet! He has to gauge the situation and see if you would be a rebel and run away with James if he should disapprove. Besides, he wouldn't want to angry with him or worse, a depressed mess. He has to first gather intelligence and see how serious you two are. Why don't you know these things? I don't even have a father and I know!"

"Why do you always have to say things like that?" Lily gave her a reproachful look.

"Well, I _don't _have a father, and I don't mind. I am often told that he was a good wizard and a great man, and I inherited his beautiful dark complexion." She joked. "Seriously though, I can take comfort in the fact that he left my mother and I well provided for and that, because of him, I have only a few months left of an education so well-rounded I could be anything in the future, even in the muggle world. Even if I don't remember him he'll always be the reason for that."

"Don't you remember him, even a little?" Lily was bewildered, she was a daddy's girl and could never have imagined life without her own father.

"He was the first person to take me on a broom." She stared at the bottle she held between her fingers. "That's the only memory I have of him, holding me on the broom and telling me to open my eyes. That was the last time I flew on a broom."

"That's it? Even _I_ know more about my own father then that." Sirius said, astonishment apparent in his voice. "And why haven't you flown since?"

"I caught some horribly contagious decease the day before the first lesson called chicken pox, after that I just didn't have the time. Well, you take what you can get, right?" She tipped the bottle back fully and drank the last dredges of her butterbeer. "I have no idea what you were worried about, Lils, this stuff could only get a house-elf drunk. 'Night all." With that, she stood up and walked out of the kitchens, presumably heading for her bed in Gryffindor tower.

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Katherine was a bit late for classes. All right, so she was _very _ late. She had missed her first class all together and was supposed to have been half-way through Defense Against the Dark Arts when she forgot about the vanishing step and tripped, flinging her books and everything else in her bag in every direction.

"Well, this is one of the best mornings I've had in a long time." She mumbled to herself as she was trying to extract her foot from the 'stair' and grab the nearest inkwell before all of the ink managed to drip out of it. She felt something trailing down her leg and lifted her robes just enough to se what is was; she had scrapes her knee and it was bleeding, badly. "Moudite-criss-tabarnac!" She let the string of French curses flow from her lips without even knowing she had said them out loud as she tried to find a hanky or something to tie around her knee to stop the bleeding.

"Would you like some help?" A vaguely familiar voice asked from the bottom of the stairs.

"No thank you." She picked up her history of magic book, and her potions book and shoved them unceremoniously back into her bag. She could still feel someone's eyes on her. "I said no thanks, you can leave now." Her voice held very little kindness, and she almost felt guilty for taking out her bad mood on this person. She did, that is, until she looked at his face.

"My my, Katherine, I expected some manners from a Hood."

"I'm a Keaton, you saw to that yourself." She said stiffly as she picked up her biology text from his feet before she started off to her class.

"There's someone I would like you to meet."

"I'm late for class, it'll have to wait."

"You speak like a common street child." He said as he stared down his nose at her. "That will have to be changed."

"I _am _a common street child, thank you very much, and I would rather not change." She stuck her chin in the air defiantly and kept up with her march.

"I merely wanted the two of you to become aquatinted before he married you, but if this is what you want then who am I to argue." His plan worked, she turned around and faced him.

"MARRIED?! What the hell are you talking about old man?"

o0O0o

"Head Master's office, Black." Professor Hood said after the third firecracker circled the room under dubious circumstances.

"Of course, sir." Sirius had never intended to get kicked out of class before, he usually just didn't go if he didn't want to, but he was bored. He knew that it wasn't a very good excuse, but they were learning about animagi and knew all there was to knew about those. He wondered how the other three could _still_ be diligently scribbling notes on their parchment. Amateurs.

And where was Kitten? She was always good for a laugh in potions, but she didn't make it that day, so he was forced to listen to the head-lovebirds cooing to one another.

"Oh, the potion is coming along beautifully!" Evans would croon.

'It will never be as beautiful as you, my dear." James murmured into her ear.

It was enough to make someone sick, which was why his potion turned out a disaster. (It had nothing to do with the fact the Kitten wasn't there to order him around what-so-ever and he had some to rely on her potion-making skills more then his own. Nope. The potion was sick of listening to Prongs and Evans.)

He turned the corner and stopped when he saw Kitten on the floor picking up her things around her most hated uncle. Over to the side, in such a way that she wouldn't have been able to see, stood a young man of about twenty. He was obviously not from Europe. His clothes were of eastern origin, and his skin and hair were quite dark. His nose was straight and his eyes were a piercing black.

Sirius decided that he would keep his presence unknown unless Keaton needed help later on.

"MARRIED?! What the hell are you talking about old man?"

Sirius was about to step in, but he realized that he would probably need more cunning then blindly rushing into a fight if he was going to help at all.

He turned into his animagus form (he was faster with four legs) and ran, quickly and silently, to the dormitories. He had a plan forming in his head.

o0O0o

"Well, darling, you are going to be out of school soon, and what will you do with yourself? You can't really expect to be aloud to just join the Dark Lord with blood like yours. If you marry Sydharth then your honor will have been restored and he would be all too happy to allow you to follow him into the Dark Lord's ranks." A man from the east stepped out of the shadows and looked her up and down. She was revolted. (Not that he wasn't good looking, in that foreign way, but she didn't like the way he was looking at her like a possession.)

"Join the Dark Lord?" She spat at him, her anger and appall obvious with every syllable. "Restore my honor? _Follow_?!" She was about to give them a good verbal lashing when a school bag bounced down the stairs and landed at her feet. _Kitten_ was written on a piece of parchment pinned to the bag.

She picked up the parcel and flipped the note over. Scrawled over the back was a note.

_Open at the opportune moment. Padfoot. PS: You can thank me later._

A hissing sound could be heard from the top of the stairs. The three of them turned to see what it was when a round of fireworks went off and flew around the corridor. Out of the spray of sparks and smoke stalked a great black dog, the hair on its back bristled in annoyance, and its ears were flattened against its skull in anger. It pulled its lips pulled back to reveal its sharp teeth, dripping with saliva. This was a dominant creature, and it was delivering a threat.

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Hey there everyone! I'm sure that you've probably all given up on me. I'm sorry! My family and I went away over the week-end to check out the school I'm going to next year. I have to say, awesome school, amazing pre-vet program, but the dorms are seriously lacking. (it's an old school, and you can't tell until you look at residence.)

Anyways, I'm hoping to have the next chapter up tonight, if not then in the next couple of days. My march break is lacking this year. Oh well! At least I have all of those amazing REVIEWS to look foreword to! (hint hint, nudge nudge)


	19. Due to Certain Laws and Regulations

_She was about to give them a good verbal lashing when a school bag bounced down the stairs and landed at her feet. _Kitten_ was written on a piece of parchment pinned to the bag._

_She picked up the parcel and flipped the note over. Scrawled over the back was a note._

Open at the opportune moment. Padfoot. PS: You can thank me later

_A hissing sound could be heard from the top of the stairs. The three of them turned to see what it was when a round of fireworks went off and flew around the corridor. Out of the spray of sparks and smoke stalked a great black dog, the hair on its back bristled in annoyance, and its ears were flattened against its skull in anger. It pulled its lips pulled back to reveal its sharp teeth, dripping with saliva. This was a dominant creature, and it was delivering a threat._

She opened the bag and found a cloak. She was confused for a moment, but then it dawned on her: _"It's an invisibility cloak."_ She remembered Sirius telling her. _"It's James'."_

"The Grim!" Katherine's intended yelled out in horror with his heavily accented English. "This is a bad omen."

She was about to open the bag and cover herself with the cloak, but the sound of the fireworks had drawn a crowd from the surrounding classes and the halls were flooding with students. When she looked back to her Uncle, the dog was between the two of them, a snarl emanating from its throat.

"What is the meaning of all this?" The professor of the class that she _should _have been in said as he pushed his way through the throng of underage wizards. He stopped dead in his tracks once he came across the scene. "Darius, what are you doing here?" He said, contempt faintly lacing his words.

"Merely introducing Katherine to someone." Darius schooled his features. "It would be a most fortuitous union for the family."

"What family are you talking about? She's not a part of your _family_, she was abandoned by your_ family_, your _family_ should keep away from her like it has for the past fourteen years."

Everyone was staring at the exchange between Jacob and Darius, so they didn't notice when one of the firecrackers exploded in a puff of smoke around Katherine and 'the dog'. Under the smoke screen Sirius turned back into his human self, opened the bag and flung the cloak over himself and Kitten.

They walked down the hall - Sirius' arm wrapped protectively around Katherine's shaking form - trying not to run into anyone and give away their position, until they reached the Defense classroom. It was empty. They threw the cloak from their shoulders and heaved a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank you Sirius." She threw her arms around his neck and buried her face in his shoulders. "I don't think that I could have gotten away on my own without hexing someone." She laughed a little. "Maybe I shouldn't be thanking you then, hm?"

He wrapped his arms around her waist and set his chin on the top of her head. He couldn't think of anything to say that would help, so he chose silence.

It was then that Jake chose to come into the room.

"All right, untangle yourselves." He said dryly. "We have some things to discuss. Mister Black, if you would wait outside please?"

"What is it Jake?" She asked as she sat down at her desk. "Don't look so down, it's not like he can actually get away with marrying me off to just anyone, especially considering the fact that he has no say in anything I do. I'm only his estranged niece, not his ward or something."

"Katie..." he ran his fingers through his dark hair, "I hate to tell you this, but the way I figured it, it's better to hear it from me then someone else." He looked at the floor, then back to her face. He looked as though he was in pain. "Katie, your mom was a great woman-"

"No, she _is_ a great woman."

"No, babe, she was." He couldn't look at her face any longer and stared at the desk he was resting his hand on. "There was a terrible accident, I'm sorry, she didn't make it. And now that your primary care-taker is...gone, based on certain laws and regulations of the ministry, the head of the family is in charge of the rest of your upbringing."

"I'm only underage for another few months," She stammered, "once I turn seventeen I'll be free and -"

"A few months is long enough to force you into a marriage." He shook his head. "I've been thinking about it since I found out, but I can't think of any way to get you out of it."

"Shouldn't you be my guardian? I mean, we're closer and you're old enough." Katherine pointed out hopefully.

"Our parents never made any kind of legal document involving you should they die. Father didn't have the chance and your mother thought that she would be around longer, at least until June. Either way, I'm not exactly financially stable at the moment."

"What can we do? Give me anything!" She was starting to panic.

"I'm sorry, sis, but the only thing I can think of is running away, and we both know that you wouldn't stay hidden for long, not with _his_ resources." He ran his hand over his face and sighed sadly. "I wish there was _something_ that could be done. I don't want this for you."

"Don't I have any say in this what-so-ever? Marriage is I life-long deal, there's no getting out of it."

"I know kid. Just...don't worry about it just yet, focus on school or something. We'll figure something out." He put his hand on her head and ruffled her hair.

"Don't, Jake, you'll mess up my hair." She stood and hugged her brother before heading toward the door. She paused at the threshold and looked at the stone flooring. "It wasn't an accident." Tears started to form in her eyes. "He planned the whole thing, didn't he?"

o0O0o

"Are you all right, Kate?" Lily asked, bringing her friend into a hug once she entered the common room, followed by Sirius.

"Honestly? No. But I'll make it. I have to."

"We heard about your mother," James stepped foreword, "if there's anything we can do, just let us know. All right?"

"Yeah." She choked. It felt like there was something lodged in her throat. She took a few deep, calming breaths before she spoke again. "What else did you hear?"

"That's it. Professor Hood asked what that guy was getting at, he said that he had no right no matter was his position was in the family, then your uncle said that history had a way of repeating itself and that Evelyn Keaton was killed and then they rushed off to Dumbledore's office to discuss things. When Professor Hood came back out he looked furious, but then MacGonagal told us to go on about our business as usual, or else."

"Then I guess you didn't hear what my uncle was actually planning?" She asked as she sat down in one of the chairs by the fire and stared absently at the twisting flames.

"No..." James said, wondering if her should even ask.

"He's trying to marry me off." She said. Everyone around her, save Sirius as he already knew, gasped and offered condolences. She didn't care anymore. She had stopped feeling once she left Jake's classroom, now all that was left was the aching numbness someplace where her heart should have been.

"Is there any way out of it?" Lily asked soothingly.

"No. Jake and I have been talking about that and there's no way out. The notification should come in the mail soon. I'll be sure to invite all of you to the wedding." She looked at all of their pained faces, glad that there was no one else in the room. "Could you all keep this under wraps for a while, please?"

"We never thought of doing anything else." Remus reassured her.

o0O0o

The night was a long one, but Katherine hardly had a chance to sort out anything that had happened that morning. She hadn't eaten all day, yet she wasn't hungry. Just numb still. She didn't want to be numb. She had tried to cry, to feel something, but all that was left to feel was the emptiness and nothingness that had surrounded her in some sort of grieving abyss.

She had gone to bed early, but of course she hadn't slept., just stared at the hangings around the bed, her thin walls of solitude. She knew that Lily would check on her so she pretended to be asleep whenever she heard the door over. Lily was a great friend, but she liked to talk things out, she would have been rambling about how it was okay for her to cry and let out her feelings. Katherine didn't need all of that rubbish, she preferred to bide her time to figure out her thoughts and emotions before putting them on display, if she displayed them at all.

She knew that the next couple of days would be the worst. People had lost family members before, be then casualties of the rising war or of other causes. Everyone at school always avoided them and gave them time to grieve, yet the always whispered just loud enough for that one person to hear, and to make their suffering just that much more potent.

Finally, when the sun was about to rise, sleep did claim her, its hold was tainted with memories of the past, however, and her rest was poisoned.

Her mother was smiling...

Her mother was baking...

Her mother was laughing...

Her mother was playing...

Her mother was breathing...

Her mother was crying...

"_When's daddy coming home, momma?" A younger her asked as she watched her mother's tears fall unhindered._

"_He's not baby. It's just you and me now"_

And now she was alone.

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Author's note.

I am about a half an hour late on my promise to have this out within two days of the last. I hope you can all forgive me! Anyway, some have asked if Sirius and Katherine are dating and since I didn't have a chance to touch on this with the characters I'll just use this functional blurb to fulfill that purpose.

No. They aren't dating. They both have 'feelings' but aren't sure about them (let's face it, Sirius is a player and doesn't know what he's supposed to do when her likes a girl for more then her body and 'other' talents -cough-) or one another. They also don't ant to mess up their friendship with one another or with the others. Hope that cleared everything up for you!


	20. The Lady Protests Too Much Methinks

Katherine dusted off the black dress she was wearing and started up the stairs. She was just coming back from the funeral. Her and Jake had taken a series of floos to Canada, where there was a service for her mother before she was laid to rest next to h

Katherine dusted off the black dress she was wearing and started up the stairs. She was just coming back from the funeral. Her and Jake had taken a series of floos to Canada, where there was a service for her mother before she was laid to rest next to her husband in the cemetery by their old home in the English countryside.

Katherine hated every minute of it. From the sad smiles and condolences to the free food that tasted like it was made just to remind everyone of what they were mourning.

"We're sorry for your loss, dear," everyone said, "Evelyn was a great woman." As though with her death any of her deeds were forgotten and useless, that she was no longer worth their time once they paid their respects and kept up with appearances.

She stalked up the stairs, glaring at the second year boys that stared at her calves. They ran down the stairs as fast as their little legs could carry them and it gave her a dark sense of satisfaction to know that she could make them squirm.

She saw Lily at the top of the stairs, her face was contorted in worry and caring. It was sweet, Kate realized, but she was sure to strangle her best friend if she didn't give her some space. Since when were they the type of friends that were joined at the heart-strings? They were close, no doubt, but Lily usually understood Kate's need for solitude to deal with things of a major emotional magnitude.

"You didn't cry or vent at all?" Lily asked when she saw how expressionless her face was.

"What can I say? I'm a bottler."

"It's not healthy, you know." 

"No, really?! I thought smushing everything into the tiny space that is myself until I finally explode and emotionally crippling myself of a few days was _extremely_ healthy. It's how I deal with things, why are you so obsessed with trying to get me to open up to you? What is this strange fascination you have with my issues?" She snapped. Once she saw the hurt look on her friend's face she immediately regretted it. "Oh, Lils, I'm sorry! Don't listen you me. I shouldn't have acted so pissy, I've been under a lot of stress lately. You know how I get. I'm sorry."

"No, it's all right. you're right." Lily almost whispered.

"Even if I was-"

"Please, let me finish. You feel lost and confused, you don't know how this happened or why it happened to you. You don't know what to do about it. I know I'm right about this, even though I've never been the best at gauging your reactions and emotions. That's the problem though, _no_ one has that gift. You've put yourself in your own little world over the years and you've kept everything locked up inside. That's what happened a few months ago when you and Sirius had that falling out that nobody else seemed to know about. You keep everything bottled up, and to keep it inside you distance yourself from everything and everyone. It will happen again if you aren't careful. You need to learn to let things out and let them go if you ever plan to fully heal. None of us want to see you like that again, we care about you."

"I never thought of it quite like that." Kate said quietly, almost inaudibly. "I never knew that I was hurting you so much. But what am I supposed to do?"

"Well, you could let me in, for one. And I would hope that you didn't know what you were doing, or you would have been one hell of a friend to let us go through that." Kate looked at her dumbly. "What?"

"You just swore."

The two girls simultaneously burst out laughing. Nothing was funny, nothing was worth laughing over, but there will be times in everyone's life when there are two options: laughter or tears. Crying was just too easy for two girls so stubborn, too much had happened to merit their tears in such a short amount of time. Besides, there would be enough to cry over later.

It was early April before anyone knew it and Easter was upon them. It had been a tough few months for Katherine. She was trying to deal with her mother's death, but still include her friends in her life. It was hard for her considering the way she had been living her life.

Where had the time gone? It was spent studying...at least that what they told anyone who asked. Most of the time was spent goofing off in the sun's fresh, warm rays. The lake was warming up. Very few people had started worrying about exams, and everyone else barely did the homework they were given on a daily basis. 

On such a warm day, the Marauders and 'the girls' (Katherine and Lily) were lounging by the lake, watching as the giant squid let its tentacles dance gracefully above the water's surface. Lily and Remus sat off to the side, comparing History of Magic notes. Sirius and Katherine were doing their usual routine (fighting good-naturedly with bits of flirtatious banter here and there). James sat and stared forlornly at his girlfriend as she studied with someone else, his pout was so sad it just made some people want to give him a good pat one the head, which is what Katherine had started doing five minutes earlier. Peter was moodily throwing pebbles into the lake.

"Hey..." Sirius trailed off. He was too busy staring at a girl that had passed by to continue speaking. "Lookin' good !" He rose his eyebrows at her and gave his lady-killer grin when she looked his way.

"You're such a pig." Katherine said to him once the girl had passed and what little sense he had was returned to him.

"The lady protests too much, methinks."(1) Sirius said eloquently.

"Oh, go jump in the lake!" Katherine crossed her arms and stopped playing with James' hair, making the boy's pout a bit more pronounced.

"Here's a thought, why don't you?"

"Real mature, Sirius."

"I'll show you mature." He growled. He stood up and grabbed her around her waist, hoisting her over his shoulder as she kicked and screamed with all she had in her.

Sirius, the gears turning in his head much like the way they did when he had one of his brilliant ideas for a brilliant prank, headed to the lake. The weight on his shoulder shifted violently and made unnecessary amounts of noise as it tried to be dropped.

Katherine found herself suddenly surrounded by cold and wet. She had just been thrown in the lake, and she was not happy about it. Of course, Sirius used what little sense he had to realize that something like that might happen, and so, he had started running to the safety of the castle as soon as he had dropped her.

"Sirius!" She yelled after him as she ran to the castle in soaked apparel. "You're a dead man!"

Once in the main corridor, which was oddly deserted, Sirius leaned against a wall and willed himself to breathe. The run had not been a long one. But of course it was not long until she caught up with him, even shivering and soaked to the core as she was.

"S-S-Siri-us." She said as her teeth chattered, it made him feel a bit guilty, but not guilty enough to stay when she had such a murderous look in her deep brown eyes. He started off again, but was tackled to the ground by a dripping monster of fury.

"Now, now, Kitten, the lake was warming up-" She straddled his chest.

"Yeah, it's warmer then it was two months ago. But then again, two months ago there a layer of ice over the top a foot thick." She raised her hands.

"You know, I was picturing something much different when I wished for you to be dripping wet and on top of me."

"Is that so?" She asked in a sickeningly sweet voice as she rung the water from her hair onto his face.

"Oh, come on-"

"What have we here?" A scheming voice echoed through the corridor. Katherine turned around, and Sirius leaned up as much as he could despite the weight on his chest. The serpent was there, standing with Dumbledore (who looked at them with a raised eyebrow that did nothing to hide his amusement). Darius was smiling a snake's smile. "Are you sure that your fiancé would like this, Katherine? You do remember him, don't you?"

"A rather large lump of a child, afraid of a little puppy?" Sirius snorted as she insulted him. "Yes, I do remember him! But he's not my fiancé."

"Well, you might want to get used to calling him that, the wedding is in two weeks."

"And now that you've told me that useful bit of information you can go and I'll see you in two weeks." She said. The fire had returned to her eyes. Darius had expected her to take a bit longer to get over her mother's death, but he hadn't counted on Lily Evans' patented grieving technique.

"Kitten?" Sirius asked from beneath her. "When you get married, can I be your mistress?"

"Sure thing." She sighed and ran her shaking fingers through her sopping hair. "But first let's get some dry clothes."

"I'd prefer no clothes at all."

"You are keen, my lord, you are keen." (1)

"It would cost you a groaning to take off my edge." (1)

"Still better, and worse." (1)

"So you must take your husbands. Begin murderer; pox, leave thy damnable faces, and begin." (1)

"I never thought I would ever quote Shakespeare as an actual conversation. but then again, I never thought I would ever understand Shakespeare either." She got off of Sirius and helped him to his feet.

"You are most welcome, dear lady." He took in her shaking form and instinctively wrapped a protective arm around her, rubbing her arms to keep the circulation going. "How about those dry clothes now?"

"Sounds good." They walked down the hall and up the stairs to Gryffindor tower.

"What is the meaning of this, Dumbledore?" Darius fairly hissed. "What is her affiliation with that boy?"

"I'm sure that I have not the faintest clue." Dumbledore replied smoothly. "But it sounded a bit like Hamlet. Good day, Darius. You have delivered your news, it's time you left."

"Of course, Headmaster." Darius turned on his elegant heels and left the room, all the while wonder what was going on between Katherine and that boy. Perhaps they were lovers. That would be disastrous! If she actually was with someone else she could throw away all of his chances of marrying her off, therefore getting rid of her and making very powerful allies in the Arabic wizarding community since what his own father had done years before. 

He was going to need more assistance with the troublesome girl then he had thought. Perhaps after the Easter Holidays he would have time to get on that.

Hey there my peeps! Can you believe it? Chapter 20! WHOOOOO!! does chapter 20 dance Thanks to those 4 people who reviewed, but come on people, 4 people? That hurts. If you're just not into the story anymore...then your probably aren't reading this right now...but at least tell me why! DX

Anyway, enough of my whining. I really hope that you all like this chapter, and I have to let you know that I have a plan. cackles evilly I mean, I had a plan before, but it wasn't so specific. I like how this has taken shape. 

1) Those lines were all from William Shakespeare's Hamlet. Hope you enjoyed it!

And to those who review, does anyone know what Sirius' middle name is? I've seen a few, but I don't know which it is, or if any of them are right! Plus, I forgot...cute-sey smile

So, review and tell me how much you like/hate this story and I'll try to update within the next week. I hate not updating on a more regular basis, but I've been so damn busy! Curse life and it's many tasks!


	21. Kindly Refrain From Talking

Katherine and Sirius waved to their friends as they all left on the train. They all had families to be going to over the Easter holidays. Although Sirius was invited to join the Potters, he didnﾒt feel right with them. They were the best - and only - fa

Katherine and Sirius waved to their friends as they all left on the train. They all had families to be going to over the Easter holidays. Although Sirius was invited to join the Potters, he didn't feel right with them. They were the best - and only - family he had ever known, but he felt that he was more needed at Hogwarts for the time being. Kitten was going to need a friend, it was the first holiday that she would have to spend without her mother, and she hadn't told anyone about her impending wedding. She said that she didn't want them worrying about her over the break, but Sirius was all but certain that she just wasn't ready to face it herself. They walked back to the castle, a air of gloom descending over them.

It was a nice day, the air was still crisp from the late winter they had just gotten over and the little twittering birds fluttered around and sang their chipper songs. Neither of them were in the mood though. Even though the grass was green and the sun was beaming down on them, begging them to enjoy the warmth of spring, they just couldn't.

She was going to be married in thirteen days.

"I should just suck it up and enjoy my last few days of freedom." She said as they walked through the gates of the school she had come to love like a dear, old friend. "It's not like I'll have another chance to enjoy myself _after_ the wedding." Now that she thought about it, it was rather odd that they were permitted to see their friends off, considering the war that was being waged in the vast world beyond Hogwarts. They had not really thought much about the war other then the brief panic that set over the masses when one village or another was invaded. They were very sheltered where they were, and she sometimes wondered if that was such a good idea considering what they were going to have to face once they were kicked out on their rear-ends after graduation.

"What else were we going to do, homework?" Sirius asked, truly disgusted at the idea. The fact that she could laugh, even through times like these, meant a lot to both of them.

"Well, then, what do you suggest?"

"A sleep-over!" Sirius said excitedly. "Oh, not a dirty one!" He corrected once he saw the skeptical look on her face. "Though I would never say no to one of those. Just think of it, my dorm is completely empty so you can which whichever bed you want, and we can just hang out for night. We could raid the kitchens, snog, plan elaborate pranks, snog, get drunk, snog, make fun of Prongs and Evans, and maybe we could snog a bit too."

"Wow," she rolled her eyes, "that's quite the agenda. Where does the 'sleep' part of 'sleep-over' come into play?"

"After the sex, of course."

"Sirius Middle-name Black!"

"You don't know my middle name? And you call yourself a friend!"

"Oh really, then what's mine?"

"Faith. See? _I_ am a good friend, and _you_ are not."

"You are a pompous ass."

"Yet you didn't deny being a bad friend." He mused in his pompous ass-like way.

"If you think that I'm a bad friend, then I probably am." She shrugged.

"Another!" Katherine yelled over the din in her inebriated brain. Sirius filled the tiny glasses and a house-elf set up everything else for them. "Now!

Both students licked the salt off of their hands, downed their shots of smuggled tequila, and bit down hard on the lime slices placed in front of them.

"How did you manage to smuggle tequila in here, again?" Sirius asked, his words hadn't started slurring until that last shot, not that she could tell. She was busy trying to keep upright on the small stool she was (half) sitting on.

"Easy, I just, hic, wrapped it in a sweater and put it next to my feminine things. Filch never even thought to look around there." They both laughed at her cunning...if anyone would actually call it cunning.

"I think we had enough." Sirius said, though he was slightly less drunk then his drinking partner, it was only slightly. However, the last time he checked there was only one of her...he then saw three of her, dancing around and laughing, trying to make him dizzy.

"I'd say so," she half laughed, half slurred, "we're outta liquor."

They both laughed at nothing, as thought nothing was more hilarious than anything they had ever lived or been told about. Even her little trip to the lake only the day before.

"Sirius," She said, suddenly saddened, "we're out of liquor."

"S'alright," he patted her back awkwardly, if only because they were both swaying slightly in their seats, "we'll get more for tomorrow night."

"But I wanted to forget." She lamented pitifully.

"You'll forget everything, I'll help. Now, for the rest of our sleep-over."

Neither of them were sure how they managed to get where they were, but somehow they succeeded in reaching the common room, leaning on one another for support and loudly hushing one another when they spontaneously burst out into fists of giggles.

They, miraculously, made it to the seventh year boys' dormitory and fell on the nearest bed; Peter's. Sirius fell on top and didn't waste a moment of precious time in joining his lips to her own.

The kiss was sloppy, as drunken kisses usually are. However, the in their drunken state their passion, which was usually impeded by what was 'right' and 'wrong', was instead fueled by their own wants and needs.

Fingers curled in hair, hands explored as much exposed skin as they could find. She reached for him and was not disappointed to find him responding just as eagerly.

Of course, the clothes were next. Quickly, savagely, they ripped, tore and tugged until they were both topless and panting in the moonlight that filtered through the half-closed curtains.

Sirius moved his lips from her and kissed his way down her neck, her chest, her stomach. She took his face in her hands and drew him toward her. She kissed him without restraint, and then fell back onto the dark red bed-spread. Her breathing, he had noticed, was no longer raged and rushed, but slow and steady.

She had fallen asleep.

Though his pride would never let him admit it, that had happened to him on more then one occasion. Sure, he knew that neither of them would have never been up to snuff in such a condition. Yet there was something about Katherine that told him that whatever he did with her would have been amazing, no matter where they were or how much they had to drink.

Finding some humor in the situation, Sirius chuckled as he tottered to his own bed across the room. At least when it finally did happen he might actually be sober enough to enjoy it.

The next morning was not as tense as it would have been if the other three occupants of the room had been present, for obvious reasons. Katherine woke up in a strange bed, again, topless...okay, so that was s first. She also had a horrible hang-over, and therefore had not energy to worry about what they hell she was doing in some strange person's bed with only half of her clothes.

As she had been curled up on top of the covers, she slid underneath them and clutched her head in pain. She groaned and pulled the blankets even farther over her head in a effort to block out the light and the sound of raindrops tapping against the window. It was as though the world was trying to torture her for one night of drinking.

Come on! She thought to the unforgiving world. She was getting married in less then two weeks, and to a complete twit, no less. Couldn't she get a break? Just once? Why was trying to forget _such_ a crime against nature so strong that it had to be mean to her when all she needed was natures love and understanding.

Suddenly, she remembered part of her 'forgetting' process. There had been plenty of limes sacrificed in the name of peace that night...and if she was remembering correctly there should have been one very hungover Sirius around somewhere. They were in _his _dorm after all.

As if on cue, she heard a faint, plaintive groan from across the room. She smiled despite herself; he _deserved_ to feel as crappy as she did.

"Kitten.." the familiar, if not a bit groggy, voice trailed off.

"Kindly refrain from talking, Black." The effort hurting her more then she could describe in that moment. Had they really down a whole bottle of tequila in one night? Judging from both of their pathetic states, It was safe to assume that they had.

"Huh? Why'd you wake me up?"

"You said my name, I said stop talking."

"Until five seconds ago I was sleeping fine." he muttered. It wasn't entirely true. He'd been having the dream about the brunette again when she woke him up. He was no closer to finding out what it was about her that made her visits so unsettling. Or so he had thought, until he realized that he said her name in his sleep, which mean that he had been dreaming about her. Well, that was just wonderful.

Sirius threw the covers off of his body and groaned. He knew that it would hurt, but once he got Remus' miracle potion into his system it would be worth the pain. He stumbled out of bed, over James', and fell to his knees beside Remus'. Once there, he looked under the bed on all fours and removed the panel of flooring that they had discovered in their second year. It was a great place to hide dungbombs, the Marauders' Map, secret plans for brilliant pranks, the two-way mirrors, and of course, plenty of the little vials filled with a disgusting-looking bright-green liquid. It was the marauders' greatest accomplishment, after the map, two-way mirrors, and amazing pranks that they planned while in the confides of the room.

"Kitten," he said hoarsely, "get out of bed and get over here."

"No." She said childishly from under Peter's blankets. "No talking and no moving, forever!"

"But if you don't move you won't get any hang-over tonic."

"Hang-over Tonic?!" She bolted upright, a bit too quickly, and clutched her head in pain. She basically crawled over to him in an effort to stave off the worst of her symptoms, nausea being one of them if her green face was any indication. She held her hand out to him weakly. He took it and pulled her closer to him.

Sirius uncorked two of the vials and handed one to Katherine.

"To good friends and good times." Sirius smirked as he held up his own vial. She touched her vial to his, making them _clink_ slightly, and they both downed them as fast as they could.

A tingling sensation filled their bodies, and as the tingling worked from their stomachs to their heads and limbs, the nausea and pain dissipated.

"What do you guys have _all_ of this potion for anyway, it's not like you'd ever need the use every last tube." She asked once it not longer hurt to speak.

"Do you remember that morning when you found me on the sofa and thanked me for saving your life?" Sirius asked mischievously. She nodded, a small smile forming on those delicious lips. "Well, the night before Remus and the other two idiots went to the kitchens to see how much Firewhiskey they could drink while still being able to walk a straight line. In their idiotic state, James - the dolt - decided to announce to the world his undying love for his precious Lilykins." She raised an eyebrow at him. She didn't see it as a big deal that James would do that, he'd been obsess with Lily since at least fourth year.

"And how did he do that?"

"He broke into the potions cabinet and made an everlasting ink potion and wrote on every wall he could find 'James Potter hearts his Lilykins forever'." He ran his hands through his hair in a way that was so devilishly sexy she could have jumped him right then and there, but she did have _some_ standards. "I still find it rather amazing that he managed to make the potion with that much alcohol in his system."

"Maybe Rem did it for him. And that does explain why Lily was yelling at him for an hour straight, but not why you have so much of this tonic."

"Do you know how much pain poor Prongs was in? I hear it was excruciating. Now, the first person to wake up gets out the tonic and gives it to the rest of use before Evans comes up here and starts screaming like a banshee. Plus it takes days to brew, almost a week. Besides, it gives us excellent reason to drink when we have classes the next day."

"Behold, the alcoholics of our generation."

"If only we could drink to that." Sirius said almost sadly. Katherine laughed at him. "Nice rack, Keaton." He said, suddenly noticing that, in her haste to be cured, topless.

She blushed. She actually blushed. Sirius felt like he had accomplished something that morning.

**Author's Note!**

Thank you all for reviewing so quickly. That was very kind of you, and this chapter is out sooner then I thought it would be cause...I would love to say because you reviewed, but it was actually because I haven't had to go to school or work for the past four days so I've had more time fore writing...but the reviews help inspire me! Hope everyone enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I loved writing it. Now all you have to do is clickie the little button and review this chapter! Neat, huh? 8D


	22. No Time Like The Present! Let's GO!

The rest of the day consisted of visits to the kitchen (as they missed most of the meals-times) and bouts of Wizard chess. Of course, Sirius won more often then not, he had been playing Remus after all.

The rest of the day consisted of visits to the kitchen (as they missed most of the meals-times) and bouts of Wizard chess. Of course, Sirius won more often then not, he had been playing Remus after all.

"Can't you at least go easy on me?" She asked more then once.

"You won't learn anything that way." Was always his retort. She knew, however, that he just enjoyed winning to boost her own dismal confidence.

After Katherine finally called it quits, they headed up to the dormitory. Perhaps he had a few ideas that they could have used to pass the time, but even the great and wonderful Sirius Black knew when he would be rejected (beating a girl at chess repeatedly occasionally made them refuse a nice hop into bed with him for some reason, go figure).

"What's all this then?" He heard her ask from in front of him. His curiosity peaked, he inched up behind her and set his head on his shoulder in an effort to see what she was seeing and to get her thinking along the same lines he had been. What he saw both surprised and amused him. There were presents piled at the end of the bed at the end of the room (his).

"I forgot it was my birthday." He whispered into her ear. She refused to shiver and show him what he was doing to her. Instead, she flipped out at him.

"Why wasn't I told it was your birthday?!" She asked, indignation etched on her normally placid features. okay, so they weren't 'normally placid'...only when she slept. She was much to expressive in her feelings (which would forever include happiness, anger, and hyper-activity).

"It never came up in conversation." He brushed it off as her walked into the room to open his presents. "Now, I can't possibly open all of these love-potion-infused gifts on my own, so you'll have to help."

"How much are you paying me for the manual labor?"

"I will choose to ignore the fact that there is no gift for you in this pile of things."

"That's not my fault." She muttered as she flopped very ungracefully on the floor and tore the paper from a batch of chocolate cookies from one of his admiring fans.

"Garbage." Sirius said once he say them. "I don't fancy falling in love with Helga Bernini this week."

"You haven't even read the tag."

"She's always sent me chocolate cookies on my birthday and for Christmas every year since I complemented her on them in our third year at a party for our defeat over Slytherin in Quittich."

"Wow. Do you have all of your fans memorized like that? Besides, they might not be tainted."

"I gave one to Peter, thinking they were fine, and all he would talk about for a week was Helga."

"So, maybe he really liked her."

"Unlikely, before he always talked about y-...Yuri, the sixth year exchange student we had then."

"Why do I feel like I missing something?"

"Ah, leave it to Ma and Pa Potter to give me just what I've always wanted." He cooed as he stroked the freshly un-wrapped broom. It was a Nimbus, the newest line of broom out, and the best if what they said was true. He looked at the gleaming finish, the perfectly trimmed tail, the way the handle gently curved and aloud for a better grip then the Cleansweep. Now if only he could try out the little piece of heaven in his hands.

"I've got it!" He shouted, making the girl beside him jump a good meter in the air. "Flying lessons!"

"Flying lessons?"

"You've never learned to fly, you basically said so after Evans' sister's wedding when you were talking about your father. Why was that by the way?"

"I caught a muggle decease known as chicken pox and had to be quarantined."

"Well, no time like the present, let's go!" he was giddy with anticipation. He grabbed her arm and practically dragged her to the quittich pitch. She kept making excuses, it was a lost cause, she was probably horrible at flying, and what about his presents? Naturally, he knew what everyone had gotten him. Remus got him a book about something he was interested in, in the (pointless) hope that Sirius would see the light and start reading for more then just school (not that he did that anyway). James probably sent him a ticket to see the quittich world cup in August, and Peter probably had his mom help him pick out some useless, if not thoughtful, gift that would sit around and collect dust until he needed a bludger to practice on. (Sad, but so true.)

--

"Now, just hold on to the broom, just like that." Sirius adjusted her hands on the broom she was straddling. It was the one he had used before he got the Nimbus. "Right. You're doing great."

"I'm still on the ground." She said through clenched teeth.

"Not for long, now listen to my instructions, will you?" He wagged his finger at her in an amusing manner. "Get ready, good, good. Now push off the ground with your legs and you'll soar into the air!...Why aren't you soaring into the air?"

"What if I fall?"

"Then I'll catch you. I'll be right beside you the whole time, and if worse comes to worse Poppy would be tickled to fix you up again."

"How can I trust you when I don't even know your middle name?"

"It's Orion." Sirius whispered into her ear. He then poked her in the side, forcing her to kick off the ground in her shock and head for the sky.

Katherine held on to the broom handle until her knuckles turned white, her teeth were clenched and her eyes were determined to stay closed. She didn't want to see where she was or the view that would accompany the ridiculous heights she could have possibly reached.

She felt something brush against her leg, and am arm wrap around her waist.

"I won't let you fall." Sirius said soothingly. "Open your eyes. You know that's the fastest way to crash, right?" Her eyes flew open, and her ears tinted a shade of bright pink (as much as she loathed the color) once she saw that she was suspended about ten feet about the ground.

"Well, that's embarrassing."

"You were higher, but you started falling once you closed those lovely brown eyes of yours. That's why I had to grab you, didn't want to have your brother on my tail now, would I?" She laughed at him and started to relax. "Let's work on the actual art that is flying." Sirius smiled. "Now, to turn lean in the direction you want to go. If you wanted to turn on a knut you'd have to yank the handle too, but we can get to that when you're more comfortable on a broom. Try leaning right first, but not too much."

She leaned and was surprised at how well she turned and _didn't _fall into oblivion! Sirius was praising her, coaching her. She was actually starting to enjoy herself, the wind at her face and the freedom that she felt.

"Enough for tonight's lesson." Sirius said. Three hours had since passed and neither of them had even noticed. "Let's go on a little trip, shall we?"

"I don't really think that I'm ready to fly anyplace, Sirius."

"Don't worry, you can ride with me."

They dismounted on the ground and Sirius let Kitten get on the Nimbus in front of him. Soon, they were flying through the air. He made the broom twist and spin in the air. They just came out of a barrel roll when he just stopped and stared at the sky they were flying in.

"Would you look at that view." He murmured.

Kate lifted her head and looked at the dark clouds beneath her and the stars twinkling overhead. She felt his arms at her sides as her reached around to grip the broom's handle, she looked at his face and saw those sparkling gray eyes, the way his black hair swayed in the breeze.

"See, Kitten, flying didn't turn out so bad, did it?"

"No, it didn't." She leaned against his chest. "When's my next lesson?"

"I was thinking tomorrow, same time, same place?"

"Sounds wonderful."

"Yes, yes I am."

Perhaps is was how close they were, or maybe it was the adrenaline from the earlier death-defying stunts, but rather slowly Katherine twisted her body around to face the man behind her. They looked each other in the eyes, and then their lips crashed together in a searing kiss. Sirius instinctively wrapped his arms around her to pull her close to him, making the broom start to fall.

They fell through the air like a stone, neither one noticing or caring that they could crash into Hogsmeade's village square in a few moments. At the last second, Sirius broke the kiss and grabbed the broom handle. He wrenched hard on it, and they landed gracefully on the green.

Sirius dropped his precious new broom and pulled her to him once more, needing the feeling of their lips touching. She wasted no time in responding. Her hands tangled in his messy black hair - she loved playing with his hair - and then ran her fingers along his neck and shoulders. He couldn't help but shiver at the sensations he was getting from being touched by those cold fingers and wondered what else she could do to him.

"Ahehem." Someone cleared their throat somewhere to their left. They reluctantly broke the kiss and looked at who was peeping on them. "I think you two might want to get back to the school about now, before they lock it up." It was the barman from the Hogs Head. "You're both soaked to the bone and I'll bet my pub you didn't even notice it was raining." He shook his head and walked away. When he was almost to his bar he turned around and looked at them again. "Well, what are you waiting for? Go, before this storm gets any worse."

The sad thing was that the old man was right, they hadn't even noticed that it had started raining.

--

**Author's Note!! WHOOO!**

You guys rock, I swear to Dumbledore that you do! And you have no idea how hard it is to write a chapter based on broomsticks without adding a whole bunch of sexual innuendoes. "She mounted his broom"...stuff like that, only sometimes worse. I mean, I never _meant_ to write it in there, but once I did my mind went all "That's what she said!" on me. My apologies if I have tainted any minds, but in my defense, this story is rated M (which means mature, but not-so-mature people can get a kick out of them too, me for example. I'm 17, but by no means am I mature! But I digress) We'll be seeing that rating a bit more in the next chapter.

I love you all, and I want to thanks everyone who has been reviewing regularly. You guys are the ones that make me smile the mostest! (And that's a word, dammit!)


	23. No Regrets

Sirius and Katherine had returned to Hogwarts via secret tunnel once the old man had left. What he was doing watching them in the first place, they didnﾒt really want to know. Sirius quickly noticed that his flying companionﾒs teeth were chattering with

Sirius and Katherine had returned to Hogwarts via secret tunnel once the old man had left. What he was doing watching them in the first place, they didn't really want to know. Sirius quickly noticed that his flying companion's teeth were chattering with the cold. All right, so maybe it wasn't the best idea for them to use the cold stone passage while they were soaking wet, but it was probably better then staying out in the rain. At least there was sure to be a fire in the common room to help them dry off once they returned.

"Finally." She muttered darkly once they saw a bit of muted light. They had gone trough the Shrieking Shack and were coming out the hole in the Whomping Willow. Sirius had explained to her the importance of the shack and what happened there every full moon night. Kate had almost forgotten about Remus' condition, she could never forget completely, but it wasn't ever at the forefront of her mind.

The two shadows dashed across the grounds and into the castle. It would have probably been easier to use one of the other secret tunnels, but the Shrieking Shack was the closest besides Honeydukes, which was closed.

It was only a matter of time before they made it to Sirius' dormitory and stripped out of most of their clothes. Katherine crawled into the bed she had slept in the night before in only her under-things and snuggled deep into the heavy covers. Sirius fairly collapsed into his own bed and let sleep overtake him. He was woken up what felt like a few minutes later by someone pushing him.

"Bphrim." Even he didn't know what that was supposed to mean.

"Just move over." Kat hissed at him through the darkness as she crawled under the blankets. "I'm cold and I hate thunder storms, they terrify me." As if on cue, there was a deep rumbling that shook the windows, and a flash of light filled the room and penetrated the darkness through the curtains. She immediately ducked her head under the blankets as though to shield herself.

"Fine." Sirius muttered sleepily. Sure, he would have never said no to a beautiful woman in his bed, but he doubted that she had any dirty thoughts running through her mind.

"Thanks Sirius, you're such a great friend."

_Friend_. She had no idea how much the word burned him. The entire meaning of the term _friends_ mocked everything that they had done, and everything that they could have been if not for a foreign fiancé and a deranged uncle - not to mention his own mistakes. He would never want to be anything less then friends with her, but with everything that they had been doing _friendship_ was much less then they were to one another, at least he had thought that she felt that way too.

She curled up beneath the covers and he could feel how cold she was. It radiated off of her much like her sadness did the night before when they were drunk. He wrapped his arms around her from behind in an effort to warm her up. He had given up on sex with her before he had even thought about it, not that his subconscious had stopped dreaming.

He felt her sigh as she relaxed and snuggled closer to him. She wasn't going to make it easy on him, was she? Especially not when her head was just under his own. He inhaled; she smelled like rain. He loved the smell of rain because of her.

"Sirius." She turned around in his arms and looked at him. "You've been great to me these past few weeks. I just...I don' know...I-"A flash of lightening illuminating her lovely face and big brown eyes. She didn't fight him when he took the sides of her face in his hands and drew her closer to him. She couldn't refuse his lips as they met her own.

The kiss was as passionate as the others they had shared since that night on the quittich pitch, but it held a lingering sorrow that could barely be tasted, yet it was strong enough to remind them of what was going to happen in a little more then a week.

As though to keep the thoughts from entering her head, she pulled him closer.

She trailed kisses from his ear, down his cheek, across his chest, grating her teeth or sucking his skin every once in a while. She was driving him crazy.

Finally having enough of her teasing, Sirius rolled over so that she was beneath him and found her neck with his mouth. She gasped and squirmed as he worked her weakness. His hands found her bra, hastily undid the clasp, and tore it away. She sighed as his fingers glided along her damp torso.

Another flash of lightening and their bodies where bathed in light, if only for an instant.

She arched her back and pressed her hips against his, an invitation if he ever got one.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his face buried in her hair. He kissed her earlobe.

"Sirius," She whispered as she toyed with the ends of his own lengthening locks, "You promised. You promised to help me forget." She kissed his shoulder. "I want to be with you, just this once and I'll have no regrets."

He didn't no why, but he was nervous. Since when had the great and wonderful Sirius Black ever been nervous about sex? It would be like saying that he was shy around girls! Blasphemy! But he was, and he wondered what she had done to change him so.

He slid the panties over her hips and down her legs with slightly trembling hands, tossing them in some unknown direction as she worked on the waistband of his own underwear.

He stared into her eyes, giving her another chance to back out. She stared right back at him and took his hand in her own and brought the tips of his fingers to her lips. He had his answer.

Slowly, he entered her. She gasped at the sensation, then groaned and joined him as he started moving back and forth, creating a rhythm all their own. He took her hands and entwined their fingers over her head. She leaned up and kissed his lips as they both panted in the secrecy of the night.

Something build inside of her and she reveled in the feeling as she was pushed to the edge over and over again. They didn't hear the thunder, they were caught up in their own world filled with only one another, the sounds they made and the pleasure they felt. Another burst of light and she could see his beautiful face, those eyes that seemed to bore into her very soul. Katherine wondered if anyone else's eyes would ever do that to her. She doubted it.

At the same time, Sirius saw her face transformed into sheer satisfaction and serenity, her eyes slightly closed as she looked back at him. He felt such and urge to say the words, and maybe if she had been drunk and wouldn't remember he would have, but she was getting married in eleven days. He instead locked away the memory of her face as it lit up for that split second by the raging storm; the one outside the window, and the one that they had created.

Another flash. Another glimpse at perfection. They reached out and clung to one another as the final waves of ecstasy washed over them. With much effort, Sirius pushed himself off of her and sprawled out on the other side of the bed, panting heavily.

"So," he asked between breaths, "any regrets?"

"None." She looked over at him and smiled, those brown eyes sparkling impishly in the darkness.

--

Sirius woke up to the sound of singing birds and a pesky bit of light that streamed through the crack in the bed curtains landing conveniently on his left eye...and across the lovely, slightly-bronzed shoulder of the woman his arms were encircling. He smiled as he remembered the night's activities and unwound himself from her. His eyes took in as much of her naked body as they could. He saw her curves under the one sheet that managed to stay with them through the entire night, and the way her dark hair spilled around her on the pillow. In the light of day he saw many things that he hadn't seen the night before, some may have called them imperfections but he saw them as anything but.

Carefully, so as not to disturb his muse, he got out of the bed and tip-toed to the other side of the bed to retrieve something from a drawer on the bed-side table. He pulled out his sketch book and a charcoal pencil.

His art was the most closely guarded secret he possessed. Not even James knew about it. He had started long before, when he had first started to distance himself from his family. He had spent a lot of time in his room in those days and had next to nothing to keep his interest, so he drew. They started out as doodles mostly, but time and practice gave way to a gift. He wouldn't say that he had any great talent for art, it was just something to pass the time, but he did realize how far he had come from drawing stick-men with triangles for hats.

Sirius placed pencil to paper and started to draw. The curve of her cheek, the pouty smile on her lips, mole on her collar bone, he put it all onto the paper. He relinquished her serenity and peace to the composition that had taken a life of its own. Part of him wished that she could sleep for the rest of the day so that he could just trace every inch of her onto that pad of paper; the other part of him understood that things were liable to become just a bit more intriguing once she finally did open those chocolate eyes of hers.

Once he was finished, he looked over the drawing with a critical eye. He had never sketched anything so real, it almost transcended reality. He shook his head at his inner philosopher and put his things back in the drawer. He crawled to his former place behind her and put his arms around her waist once more, pulling her closer to him and kissing a spattering of freckles on her shoulder.

He watched in fascination as her eyes blinked a few times, and then slowly opened to look at him.

"Good morning." She muttered.

"That it is." He mumbled into her neck, making her laugh as his breath tickled her skin.

"Do you think people will wonder where we've been the past few days? We have kind of kept to ourselves."

"Who cares?" He had already titled the next piece he was going to draw; he was planning on doing many more before she was taken away from him.

_His Kitten_.

--

AUTHOR'S NOTE!! (I know that you all love this segment)

Yeah, so that was my first time writing anything like _that_ and I'm pretty such you all know which "that" I mean. That could be the reason that I didn't put much dialogue in it. Of course it could just be a fluke! Tell me what you thought of the chapter by pushing that fun little review button at the bottom of the screen. nope, a little to the left... that's it! Now click it and write me a few lines about what you liked or didn't like or whatever about this chapter! Wasn't that easy?

PS: Just a random thought that popped into me head. What if I were to change my pen-name to The Creature Formerly Known As Muse? You likies?


	24. Where Do You Want Me?

I was the day of the wedding. Kate didnﾒt tell the others about the wedding until two days after they had returned. Even then it was only because Sirius had taken to poking her in the ribs every time he saw her. She took them all to the boysﾒ dorm and

I was the day of the wedding. Kate didn't tell the others about the wedding until two days after they had returned. Even then it was only because Sirius had taken to poking her in the ribs every time he saw her. She took them all to the boys' dorm and sat them down. Their reactions were expected, no one had actually thought that Darius would have gone through with it.

"_Y-you don't have to do this." Lily stuttered as she tried to held back her tears._

"_Actually," she was whispering, "I do."_

"_What do you mean?" Peter asked from his seat on the end of Remus' bed._

"_He's unearthed some ancient bylaw that no one has ever bothered to obliterate. If the under-ages witch or wizard doesn't obey the commands of their guardians, some technical words, punishable by imprisonment."_

"_Azkaban?" Remus asked. She merely nodded in response._

"_Azkaban?! For refusing to throw your life away?! This is ridiculous!" James was livid. Katherine was only grateful that there was nothing breakable in the room for him to throw._

"_He had friends in high places, and enough money to make more if he so wishes."_

"_What can we do?"_

"_I'm only going to ask this of you once, all of you. Please don't interfere. I don't like thinking about what would happen to any of you if you did." She took a shaky breath and continued. "I just want to live the next few days as normally as possible, so that I can have some memories to keep me going until I can find another way out of this."_

"_Will you be coming back to school?" Peter asked quietly._

"_No. I'll be a married woman, it just wouldn't do to have me philandering with all of these available young men, would it."_

After that discussion, she and Sirius had their last flying lesson before he started acting strangely around her. She expected him to avoid her once the day drew nearer, but that didn't make the ache in her chest go away whenever she saw him, and he just kept walking.

She stared at herself in the mirror in the old mansion where the wedding was to take place at. She looked every it the bride she should have. Her hair was flawlessly styled into an extravagant number of twists on her head, and her makeup was caked on to give her that rosy, excited glow, even if she never smiled and her eyes never lit up as a bride-to-be's should have. the flowers she was holding looked nice enough, but the overpowering smell made her eyes water and it was so heavy her arms were starting to ache. The dress was nice, she supposed, if not a bit pretentious for her tastes. It was the latest fashion, and the finest quality, but it wasn't what Katherine would have ever wanted if she were planning a wedding she actually wanted.

She wanted a simple dress that was light and summery, just white silk draped over her like a toga. She wanted to carry a small bouquet of purple lilacs, and her hair would have been pulled away from her makeup-free face. There would have only been their closest friends present, and her mother and Lily would have helped her get ready. Most importantly, her groom's eyes would be warm and comforting as she walked toward him and he would only see her. His eyes would have bored into her soul and known that there were no reservations, no doubts, no ulterior motives. But there was only one man that she had ever met with eyes like those, and he wasn't going to be the one holding her hand and speaking the vows.

"Some visitors to see you, Ms. Hood." The middle-aged witch that had been with her the entire day to guard her help her prepare.

"I've already told you, it's Keaton. Fine. Send whoever it is in." She turned away from the depressing sight in the mirror and sat down at the bench on the other wall.

"You look lovely." Lily said from the door. She rushed over and gave her friend a warm hug. James, Remus, and Peter followed her into the room.

"We figured that we should probably come to see you one last time as Katherine Keaton." Remus said for them.

"It may be that last time I see any of you at all." She took her time hugging each of the boys she had grown so fond of, and gave them each a kiss on the cheek. "I'm going to miss all of you so much."

"Miss Hood." The pinched older lady said from doorway.

"I've already told you, it's Keaton."

"You were born a Hood and will be-"

"For the next half hour until the damn wedding." She spat back. "I get it." She turned back to her friends and gave them a weak smile. "So, I guess I'll see you guys at the wedding then. Where's Sirius?"

"He'll be here, he's just...finishing up...some things...before he comes."

"Gee, thanks James. If you're going to lie to me at least try to think up a believable story."

"He _will _be there though." Peter added hopefully.

"I suppose that's all I can hope for. I should be going, my slave-handler is getting irritated. See you then." They all walked out of the room dejectedly.

"He _is _going, isn't he?" Lily chewed her lip.

"I'm not entirely sure."

--

Sirius listened to the brunette on his arm giggle seductively, again. He had decided that he was not going to see Kitten married, he was not going to let the last time he saw he be as another man's wife. He preferred to remember her as they were over the break, the way they were the night before everyone returned behind the tapestry on the second floor, and in the locker rooms before that. He wanted to see her as the girl in his sketch book, not with a veil over those eyes, and definitely not letting another kiss those pouty lips.

_They scampered behind the tapestry in an effort to get back to the dormitory unseen, not that anyone had been coming, but it was the only cover they would be able to get until the reached the portrait hole. Sirius grabbed her and kissed her once they were halfway through.._

"_Sirius," He had heard that tone in her voice before, it always meant something spectacular was about to happen. "Where do you want me?"_

"_Anywhere, anytime, Kitten." She untangled herself from his arms and he felt slightly confused. She leaned against the wall and patted the stones affectionately._

"_How about here?" She asked, almost sounding innocent._

"_Like I said, anywhere, anytime." He smirked and closed the distance between them._

The brunette he had chosen to make the time pass more quickly was trailing kisses down his jaw. He kissed her lips, and then found her neck. She didn't squirm as his breath moved over that spot. She had no mole on her collar bone, no freckles on her shoulder, and he doubted that she didn't have a scab on her left knee from falling off of his old broom a few days before. Even if she had, he doubted that she would have jumped back on with enthusiasm and asked what she had done wrong and how to fix it.

"Why are you stopping?" She giggled, playfully this time. _She_ never giggled, _she_ never had to.

--

"You are to wait here until your honorable uncle retrieves you for the ceremony." The slave driver barked at Katherine as she snorted at the mention of the word 'honorable' having anything to do with Darius. She shut the door behind her, and Kate was certain that she heard her mutter a few locking incantations.

She let her eyes wander around the room. In one corner was the full-length mirror she had been looking in earlier, on the wall across from the door there was the simple wooden bench she was sitting on. The walls were made of stone, as were the floor and ceiling. There were bars on the windows.

She was in a prison.

There was a knock that the door and she jumped in surprise. It was a bit soon for Darius to retrieve her and walking her down the aisle, but perhaps Sirius had actually shown up.

"Come in, if you can, the door's locked." Her voice was flat and spiritless.

The door opened slowly, the hinges creaked, and a tall man stepped into the room and looked her up and down. He nodded his approval and walked toward her.

"You're not supposed to see the bride before the wedding." She was uneasy when he was in the room.

"I will see you soon enough, a few moments will harm nothing."

"You have no idea."

--

Sirius ran down the halls of the huge mansion, fixing his dress robes as he did. How could he have thought that distancing himself would have made it easier? Hadn't he tried that before and failed miserably? He felt like an idiot, once again, because of how he was dealing with Kitten. He had actually punched a wall before leaving the castle, his hand was still bleeding, but there would time to worry about that later.

He knew he couldn't stop the wedding, she had asked him not to interfere and he would do as she asked. He still had to talk to her though, while he still could.

Sirius turned a corner sharply and ran right into an elderly wizard with white hair sticking up in odd directions and purple dress robes.

"Whoa there, lad, slow yourself down or you'll hurt someone." He had a thick Irish brogue and, now that Sirius looked closer, a rather large book in his hands.

"Sorry about that, sir, I'm looking for my friend. You don't happen to be in charge of the ceremony, would you?

"Why, yes, I am. How can I help you?"

"How can she be getting married? She's still only sixteen." Sirius ran an irritated hand through his hair.

"With the support of her legal guardian, of course. Here, I'll show you." The wizard took a folded piece of paper from the pages of his book and showed it to him. "You see that signature? That would be Darius Hood's. He signed it before hand to keep the ceremony going smoother. now all we need is for the bride and the groom to sign here and here, and they're married in the eye of the ministry."

"No going back?"

"Well, in the case of an under-aged party, once she turns seventeen if either of them wants out of the arrangement, then that's that and it's over."

"And if neither wants out?"

"The they're already married. They have from her seventeenth birthday until her eighteenth birthday to decide what it is that they want."

"Sir, you've just given me the best news I've ever heard! Thanks!" Sirius ran down the hall once again.

He felt lighter then a feather. She turned seventeen in June, so she only had to stay married to the twit for about and month and a half before she had the marriage annuled, and things could turn back to normal. A month and a half wasn't all that long.

--

**Author's Note**

Just so that everyone knows, I wasn't serious about changing my name. It was just one of those days...nights...mornings when the strangest thoughts come to my head and I'm just tried enough to add them to the end of a chapter before I upload it. But thanks for all of your comments on that anyway!

On another, more relevant note, what did everyone think? There will be more happening in the next one, but I found that all of this was important, so that the actions of the characters in the next chapter make more sense. But here I am, rambling yet again! My, but I do have a gift for it!

On another _less_ relevant note, why have so few people been reviewing? Is it because I'm not offering incentives anymore? In all honesty, I had no idea what to give to people, but if you were to review about the story and then slip in a little suggestion about what you would like to virtually receive, I would be honored to bend to your wishes! (I meant, I might use one person's suggestion on one, then another person's on the next, but just keep reviewing and yours will be sure to get put on there!)

Wow, this has to be one of the longest Author's Notes I've ever written. Ah well, what can you do? (cough-review-cough) Muse out!


	25. Do You Trust Me?

ﾓYou look like a majestic dove.ﾔ Sydharth would have said smoothly, if not for his strong Arabic accent. (Though he did speak English quite fluently.) All she saw on his face, besides the newly grown beard, was greed and slight traces of lust. She wan

"You look like a majestic dove." Sydharth would have said smoothly, if not for his strong Arabic accent. (Though he did speak English quite fluently.) All she saw on his face, besides the newly grown beard, was greed and slight traces of lust. She wanted to gag.

"Doves are just glorified pigeons." She spat at him. "Why don't you just leave, huh? You'll see me soon enough when I walk down the aisle."

"You speak like a peasant."

"And you speak like a foreigner."

"As your husband, you will respect me."

"Once you earn it. By the way, you're doing a shitty job of it so far."

"The women of my family know that it is better to be seen and not heard." he stroked to hair on his chin. "You will learn."

"And if I refuse?"

"I have ways of teaching insolent women."

"You couldn't teach a dog to bark."

"We'll see what I can teach a dog." He grabbed her arms and forced her up, against the wall. The bench she was on tumbled with the sudden force. He was standing so close that she could almost feel the anger as it wafted over him. She felt her arms bruising beneath his hands, but refused to show it. "You will obey me." He seethed.

"I don't like being touch, not by you." She realized a moment too late that she had said the wrong thing. A devilish smirk crossed his face and she knew what he planned to do. She was scared..

"You will learn to revel in my touch." He chuckled. He took both of her wrists in one of his hands, holding them over her head. Her feet barely touched the ground. He was deceptively strong. "The first lesson will start now."

With his free hand he tore at her dress, not even noticing how much she struggled against him. Not that he would have cared. He drank up every inch of exposed skin with his eyes. Her hair had been destroyed, her makeup was surely mussed from the struggle.

She was at a loss for what to do. Her wand had been tucked in the bouquet, which had long since been tossed unceremoniously across the room. She tried kicking him, but he never felt it. She would have tried begging him to stop, but she somehow knew that it would have only fueled his desire. At least while she struggled she wasn't giving in to him.

--

Sirius walked along the corridors. He was smiling. Not smiling exactly, he never truly smiled, but he was smirking happily. He had found out something very useful. Of course Darius probably knew of the loophole, but Sirius doubted that the man would have taken the time to tell his niece. All he had to do was find Kitten and tell her that she could live abroad for a month or two, and then come home to jolly old England and things would go back to the way they were.

'_Not exactly the way they were.' _His mind saw fit to point out. _'Things will never be exactly as they were. She will surely be changed in a few weeks being married to that git, no doubt they will try to keep her from leaving him. Who knows what they'll do to her while she's away.'_

He frowned. His mind was right, no matter how mad it made him seem to admit it. He picked up his pace as he searched for the room that the old man had told him to go to, although he had to run back into the old man before he thought to ask.

Sure enough, straight ahead, was a door with an armed guard standing on either side. They wouldn't have stopped him, the guards, but when he saw the man that she was supposed to marry walked through the door he couldn't move.

--

She was starting to panic. All right, so she had started panicking once he saw that look in his eyes. Katherine felt herself grow detached as he used a spell to hold her wrists in place on the wall while his hands started to roam across her stomach and chest. She still struggled, but it was for nothing, and they both knew it.

She scarcely felt his fingers as they touched, prodded and pinched every part of her. She barely heard him as he chuckled over his victory. She smelled his cologne, for some strange reason it had managed to penetrate the haziness of her mind. He smelled like the desert. Nothing like Sirius. Sirius smelled like fresh air mixed with earth, with a touch of leather, and a certain amount of that masculine smell that all men seemed to have.

_Sirius._ That was when the tears started to fall. She had used him. She knew it was more complicated then that, but when one pushed aside all of the excuses and pretty words that was all she was doing. It was bad enough that she knew it, it was even worse that he knew it, but what was worse still was the fact that she wouldn't ever get the chance to apologize to him.

"Please," she whimpered, "just stop it." She didn't even realize that she had said the words, she just wanted the ache in her chest to go away.

"What the hell's going on here!" A familiar voice raged.

Still dazed, Katherine couldn't quite make out whose voice it was, but her heart gave a sudden leap when she had heard it. She heard yelling, the sound of a fist on flesh, and she felt herself falling as the stones on the wall grated against her back.

By the time she had come back out of her stupor, Katherine was being held by a pair of strong arms as someone carefully pushed her hair out of her face.

"I couldn't do it Kitten." He said softly. "I couldn't let you go through with it, even if it was only a few weeks."

"Sirius?" She whispered. She couldn't take it anymore, she broke down. Huge sobs forced her body to tremble as she cried into his chest and smelled his comforting scent. He just held her, his knees cold from kneeling on the floor with her, but he couldn't force himself to let go. He had almost lost her.

They both knew why she cried. Although any on-lookers would have though it was from the experience that she had just faced both of them knew that it was for something much less tangible. She cried for her mother, the father she had never met, the friends she almost abandoned, but mostly for what she was about the throw away before it came bursting through that door and rescued her.

"I'm so sorry." She whispered once the weeping had stopped.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" He had expected a 'thanks you' of some kind, perhaps even a quick 'you shouldn't have some here' (because she was so full of those bloody morals sometimes) but not an 'I'm sorry'.

"All of that time we spent together, Sirius I was using you. I didn't know it then, maybe it did, but I just wanted to forget and it was so easy to lose myself in you. I just-" he kissed her.

"I'm sorry." He said to her. She gave him a puzzled look. "What I mean is; I'm sorry I didn't try to stop you from doing this sooner. You deserve much better then him." He jerked his head to point at something behind him and she saw Sydharth's body sprawled out on the floor, blood was pouring out of his nose. She could tell that he was still alive because his chest still rose and fell rhythmically. She was almost disappointed.

"Then we're both sorry, so we're both forgiven." She smiled weakly at him and he winced. She always smiled big and bold, with her whole face. He adored those smiles.

"We should probably fix you up then." He took out his wand and pointed it at the rags that were once her dress.

"No." She pushed his wand away and stood up. "I'm not marrying that man today, and I'm not wearing this dress for another second." She started to strip away the fabric, as though she were trying to strip away all of the mistakes she had made over the past few months. When she stood before him, practically naked, Sirius took off his top-coat and draped it around her shoulders. She gave another weak smile, it was warmer than the last had been and that fact gave him hope.

"Do you trust me?" His question came suddenly to her, but he had been contemplating whether or not to do what he had planned since he had talked to the old man that was presiding over the ceremony.

"Yes, I trust you. Why?"

"Just come with me." He took her hand and lead her through the halls once again, what he was looking for, she didn't know.

--

"SHE DID WHAT!?" Darius' disembodied voice echoed through the mansion. Lily, James, Remus and Peter all turned in their seats, along with the other guests, to see what the commotion was all about in the hall just outside the room where the wedding was supposed to take place in a few minutes.

"There's no way you'll be catching her at this rate." An elderly man in purple dress robes chirped. "They'll be long gone by now."

"You do realize that because of this you won't be getting paid, don't you?"

"It's quite all right, sir, I've enough weddings and funerals booked to keep my pockets far from empty. no need for you to fret over me."

Darius stormed out of the hall and a few doors were heard slamming in the distance. The older wizard popped his head into the room.

"In case you haven't already guessed, there'll be no wedding between Ms. Keaton and Mister..." he trailed off as he tried to think of the man's name. "That foreign man."

Lily let out a sigh of relief. Remus smiled. Peter just about collapsed with contentment. James started to laugh. The others all looked at him, but he continued to chortle and grin, in fact their confused faces only made him laugh harder.

"James, honestly, what's this all about?" Lily demanded, her hands placed firmly on her hips.

"S-s-s..." He had to calm himself down and wipe a tear from his eye. "Never did see Sirius, did we?"

--

**Author's Note**

Seriously people, I'm kind of sad. I appreciate that you've added me to your favorite stories, or put me on your watched list, but every time I work for _hours_ to get a chapter up, and every time I get reviews from the same three or four people. I appreciate those reviews, Snuffles-sweetie, anyavioletta, Sirius Baby, and fastfashiondispatch, but come on people, I'm feeling a bit used here. At the risk of sounding like a complete review whore...**review dammit**! (You're looking at about forty seconds, tops.)

I'm sorry if I've come across as a bit bitchy, but I feel like none of my effort is being appreciated. I NEED feedback in order to make this story as good as it can be. I know this story has flaws, and I would love for someone to point them out to me so that I can change them. I'm sure if any of you are writers you'll either understand, or you'll think that I'm being ridiculous, but this is very important to me.

**So, I've thought up a new system for reviewing for this story**! Once you read a chapter, you just review and give me a number from 1-10. 1 is bad, 10 is awesome. You could even tell me why you picked that number! I just want to see if this way works better or not. If not, I'll let you know and we'll go back to the old way. And just another hidden incentive...I ALWAYS respond to reviews, and I tend to give a few hints as to what might happen in the future of this story when I'm able (usually on the longer reviews, sorry to say, but then I write longer responses and I can fit it in.) Just to let you know.

And here's a little tid-bit to get you thinking about next time:

"_Just tell me you didn't!" (Remus)_

"_Fine, I didn't." (Sirius)_

"_Why doesn't that make me feel any better?" (Remus)_

I'm 'borrowing' that technique from anyavioletta...we'll see if it gets you wondering or not. I hope that I never write such a long author's note again, and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there that wish or the same. XD

PS: I actually have no problem with people from the middle-east, and I'm sorry if it comes off that way in my story with Sydharth. I just needed someone from another place that wasn't so laughably far away from Europe, plus, that's where the Hood family originated from...there's a story there, but we'll see if I can find the time to fit it into the actual plot line I have going here.


	26. At Least I'm Magnificent

I just want to take this chance to thank all of you for those wonderful reviews! All of you rock, HARDCORE! Now, if you turn to your left you will see a virtual table filled with virtual deserts and every kind of potato imaginable, and lots of bacon….and any and all of your virtual desires! Enjoy while I tell you some more of the story. :D

The two felons were flying above the lovely city of London on Sirius' broom. There were quicker ways to get back to Hogwarts, there were warmer ways, but they were enjoying the wind in their hair and the view of tiny people from the air. They were both high on adrenaline because of what they had accomplished and had no thoughts of ever coming down.

Katherine leaned against Sirius' chest and let her head rest on his shoulder. She looked at his profile and saw that he was still grinning like he was an hour and a half earlier.

"Thanks Sirius." She snuggled closer and watched the few birds that were flying just above them in the fog.

"You would have done the same for me."

"Then I guess we're just damn wonderful, aren't we?"

"That we are, we're too wonderful for the rest of the world to even understand." He pointed one hand in the air dramatically.

"That was lame." Kate snorted.

"I know, but at least I'm magnificent."

"That you are." She all but purred. Sirius groaned and leaned to the right so as to avoid hitting a lighthouse.

"Gods, Kitten, if you're not careful I'm going to have to jump you." He growled into her ear.

"If you're planning on doing that you'll have to get us to solid ground." Rather eagerly, Sirius dove for the ground, only to find that there was no longer anything to land on by water. Water has a strange tendency of not holding up one's weight, let alone two.

"Damn."

"Then you'll just have to wait until we get back."

"Sirius!" Katherine laughed as he picked her up in front of the portrait hole. "What are you doing?"

"Carrying you across the threshold." He replied as though it was quite obvious what he was doing.

"Why?"



"Because if it weren't for me you would have married what's-his-name and he would have probably carried you across a threshold. Besides, we had an agreement." He was wondering what was mentally wrong with her at that point, did she forget so soon?

"Gods, Sirius, of all the weird things you've done since I've been friends with you, this is…well…it's somewhere in the top twenty."

"What's the weirdest?" His eyes sparkled at the thoughts that popped into his head.

She tilted her head to the side and thought about it for a moment. "You became my friend."

"Why is that so strange?" They went through the opening and Sirius sat down on the couch, setting her on his lap. The chance was slim to none that he would have been able to get her up the stairs with all of her laughing. It also would have been impossible to hop into bed before the others walked in and wondered what in the name of Dumbledore's purple socks they were doing. They were so naive, his friends.

"Oh, come off it! Everyone knows about your reputation with girls. You're a player! I mean, you haven't had a relationship that lasted over two months."

"And even then I had some action on the side."

"Sirius!"

"What?"

"You're a cheater!"

"Well, yeah, what else would you expect?" He shrugged.

"Damn it Sirius, you're such a prick sometimes. No wonder everyone's been whispering whenever I talk to you!"

"I thought it was because you were pregnant?"

"Please, those rumors stopped shortly after you dumped Jeanie."

"Really?"

"Yes." Now she was wondering if there was something mentally wrong with him.

"Good, now we can make some real babies!" He leaned in, just a breath away.

"Your such an a-"

"Well that was a waste of time." Lily said as she stomped through the portrait hole. Sirius and Katherine pulled apart, but only a little.



"Yeah," James grinned, "not the best time I've ever wasted, but still glad it was a watse."

"I agree." Peter started to take off his topcoat, but stopped once he saw Sirius and Kate on the couch.

"Well," Remus said jovially, "hello there you two."

"Hey." Sirius said while Kat waved.

"I see you two have been enjoying yourselves." James joked. Lily looked like she was in shock.

"What do you mean?"

"Kate, you're wearing little more than his coat, and you're sitting in his lap." Lily's eyes were wide; her cheeks were as red as her hair.

"Oh, that, well I couldn't very well just keep the dress could I? So, Sirius kindly offered the use of his coat. And I'm wearing underwear."

"What do they look like?" James raised his eyebrows, and was promptly slapped on the arm by Lily. "What? It was just a question."

"The question we should be asking is how she got out of marrying…um…that man."

"Sirius helped me find a loophole." Katherine said off-handedly. "I should probably be getting dressed right about now. Have fun, all." She got up and, with as much grace and dignity possible whilst trying to keep herself covered in a coat that wanted so badly to open, went up the stairs to the girls' dormitory. Lily followed behind, wanting a very long and detailed explanation.

"Nice job Pads!" James said. He hadn't stopped grinning since they had left the 'wedding'.

"I try, I try." Sirius soaked up their praises.

"You were both being rather ambiguous. What kind of loophole did you say you found?" Remus pulled a butterbeer out from the inside of his robes. Before they had headed back for school, James had decided that they not let the reception go to waste so they all had at least three drinks hidden on them. (What was shocking was that Lily even joined in their fun.)

"The kind that involves a few galleons and a quick written agreement." Sirius said as he took the butterbeer offered to him from James.

Remus donned thoughtful expression as he took a drink. He looked from Sirius, to where Katie had gone, and back to Sirius. Then he choked on his drink.

"Whoa, slow down!" Peter laughed as James started thumping him on the back.

"You didn't!" Remus gasped once he was saved from drowning.

"Didn't what?" The other three Marauders were looking slightly confused.



"You know. You…and…and her! You know!"

"I know what I did, but I don't know what I didn't do, do you?" Sirius asked thoughtfully.

"Why are you trying to confuse him? It never works?" James commented. He was very intrigued as to what Remus had discovered.

"True enough."

"Please, just tell me you didn't!" Remus begged Sirius.

"Fine, I didn't." Sirius shrugged.

"Why doesn't that make me feel better?"

"Because you don't believe him?" James helped.

"Yes, that must be it."

"Thanks Prongs."

"Anytime."

"What didn't they do?" Peter popped the lid off of his butterbeer.

"Don't worry, I'm lost too Peter."

"I'm talking about how Sirius and Katie could have-"

"I love you guys!" Katherine burst out suddenly as she sprinted down the stair, Lily following closely behind looking thoroughly miffed. "You know that, don't you?"

"Where did that come from?" James grumbled.

"From the bottom of my heart?" She tried to look innocent as she flung Sirius his coat.

"So," Remus said smugly, "you did."

"No comment."

"I knew it."

"Nice try, Kitten, but it looks like our cover's blown." Sirius helped her up and stood next to her. "You were saying, Mooney?"

"Oh, Merlin, you mean you did?!"

"Maybe."

"What did they do?" James, Peter, and Lily asked simultaneously.



"Black, Keaton." Professor McGonagall was suddenly standing in the portrait hole, watching the exchange.

"Yes Professor?" Katherine asked in her best 'dedicated student' voice. McGonagall didn't buy it.

"The Headmaster wishes to see the both of you in his office, immediately." She gave then both pointed looks that said quite clearly 'you've got a lot of explaining to do'. "He says to bring the document."

"That, right, will do Professor. We'll leave right now, this very instant." Sirius picked up his coat and took Kate by the arm. "Maybe we'll be out in time for supper, I'm famished."

The painting of the Fat Lady closed behind their retreating backs and Lily let out a sigh of sheer exasperation. She sat down where Sirius was not two minutes before and regarded the other boys dolefully.

"So, did it work?" She asked them.

"Yes and no." Remus stroked his chin. "It's very likely, but neither of them actually said anything."

"Maybe we were wrong." Peter put in hopefully.

"Yeah, maybe they just offed the groom and then, presto, no more wedding." James smiled brightly once again.

Sirius and Katherine stood in the doorway of Dumbledore's office. He regarded them carefully, his eyes not betraying any of his usual kindness or humor.

"Please, have a seat."

"I think I'll stand, sir." Kate said in a small voice. "No offense or anything, I just-"

"I understand. I believe that congratulations are in order on your failed nuptials." He folded his hands in front of him and regarded them both. "In that regard, your uncle will no doubt be here within the hour to solve the problem."

"Don't worry about him, sir," Sirius grinned, "we'll take care of him." He patted the breast pocket of his coat.

**Author's Note!**

Yeah, another A/N. You must be getting tired of me by now, I'm almost certain that most of you are only sticking around for Katherine…or more likely Sirius. Did I confuse anyone yet? Do you have any theories? I'd be happy to hear them. (Not that I would ever tell you if you were right or not, but it's good to put in your opinion, because at this point I can still make it go any which way…or maybe your theories could come into play later on in the story! I love new ideas and new inspiration. I would credit you, of course. But you probably all know what's going on by now…if not then YAY! I've done my job.) 

This was merely a filler chapter. The poor dears need a breather after all of that angst and stress, messing with your friends is very helpful in any case. More action next week!

I'm really sorry that this one was a bit late, I had my firearm's safety course over the weekend, next weekend is hunter's safety, and then the test for both is on my birthday. 8(

At any rate, review my loves. (And I hope that didn't seem too creepy and stalker-esque)


	27. How Do You Feel About Threesomes?

Dumbledore left the office after speaking with Sirius and Katherine. He walked down the hall humming as he searched for a place that Darius would not be able to run into him on the way to his office. He didn't like the idea of letting the two adolescents handle him on their own, but there was only so much that he could do for them. He had to step back and let them take hold of their lives. Graduation was such a bitter-sweet day for that very reason.

Once the Headmaster had left Kate immediately ran to his chair and let out a laugh as she made herself comfortable. Sirius smirked at her and stretched out in one if the chairs in front of the desk, one leg hanging off of its right arm.

"You know, I could think of a few things we could be doing right now." He ran his fingers through his hair.

"I'm sure you could, but I don't feel like beating you at chess again."

"Who said anything about chess? And where was I when you beat me at it?"

"So," She lounged in Dumbledore's chair, "What are we going to do about all this? Of course we won't announce it to the world, but what about our friends?"

"They've probably got it figured out by now and are standing by for a confession. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they were planning their own little espionage mission as we speak." He looked in the various canisters on the desk and motioned one to her. "Lemon drop?"

--

"So you've had an invisibility cloak this entire time and didn't think of it until now?" Lily and James, being nominated to bring the espionage mission to fruition, were walking down the deserted corridors. Everyone else was eating so they were sure to be alone.

"Why would I ever mention it to you? You're Head Girl, not to mention the bane of marauder existence for years." James snapped the cloak and smiled at his old friend. "Besides, I didn't know where it was for a week or two, Sirius had it."

"In all honesty, James, if it came down to it who would you choose; me or Sirius?" Lily finally voiced the question that had been plaguing her since the two of them had become 'official'.

"Well, I've never thought about that before." James thought for a moment. "It would all depend on the situation I suppose."

"What do you mean it depends on the situation?" She was trying - unsuccessfully - to hide the irritation she was feeling.

"What I mean is, if I heard both sides of the story I would have to make a fair decision."

"Are you saying that-"



"Lily hush!" James pulled her into an alcove and wrapped the cloak around the two of them. "Someone's coming, don't make a sound."

As she nodded against the hand he held against her mouth they heard the over-priced shoes tapping on the stone floors. The steps were loud and angry as they resolutely marched past the two invisible teens.

"This is it." James whispered. "Follow him."

--

Sirius had to admire Kitten's poise when the door flew open to reveal a very angry Darius. She hardly flinched in the Headmaster's chair as the man recovered from the shock f seeing her and not Dumbledore as he had expected. Sirius stood to her right, arms crossed, as though guarding her from any unexpected assault.

"Darius." She said in a monotone voice.

"Katherine. Mister Black." He nodded to both of them in turn.

"To what do we owe this displeasure?"

"You are going back and you are will to be married!"

"No, I don't think that I am." She looked him right in the eyes and he grew a bit uncertain under her unwavering gaze.

"By law-"

"By law you're a murderer, but I have no proof…yet. Although I know that you are behind the death of my mother, and most likely my father, it would be a waste of time and money to pursue." She violently threw a letter opener at the desk. Its blade stuck into the ancient wood. "I won't be marrying the man you have chosen for me."

"You aren't of age yet. I am still in control." It was more like he was reminding himself than anyone else.

"And I suppose that once I'm married my husband will take on that happy duty."

"Of course."

"Well Sirius, what will you have me do?" She folded her hands in front of her and looked up at him. He leaned down to her.

"You don't want to know what I would have you do." He whispered.

"Once we get rid of this headache." She whispered back.



"Well, she's already got one husband and I'm not overly fond of competition." He straightened himself to enjoy to shocked expression on Darius' face.

"You didn't." Was all he could mutter.

"Why is everyone saying that?" Sirius said, exasperated. Kat didn't quite understand. "I'll tell you later, Kitten. Over out next meal, which will hopefully be soon."

"You are lying to me. She couldn't have gotten married without my permission."

They were both expecting that. Sirius picked up his coat and took a piece of paper out of the breast pocket. He showed the signatures. That of Darius, Katherine, Sirius, and the minister all stood out in black ink against the pale parchment.

"Well, it says here that you – see your signature – do hereby give your niece, Katherine - that's where she signed - over to...well would you look at that? That would be my name in the space marked 'groom'." He looked over at Kitten and winked.

"As you can see, I am no longer your responsibility. Good day, Uncle."

"It can't be."

"I assure you that it is all completely legitimate, check with the ministry records if you don't believe us." Kate leaned back in her chair. "Once again, good day."

Slowly, in shock but still keeping his air of dignity, Darius walked out the door. Hopefully he would walk out of their lives for good. Once the door shut behind him they gave a collective sigh of relief.

"Oh Merlin," she sighed, "that took a lot out of me."

"Well, you didn't show it." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. "Now how about that agreement we had?"

"What agreement?"

"I'm hungry!" He whined. "Feed me!"

There came a rustling in an empty corner. Then there was shushing and, finally, silence.

"Sirius, your friends are idiots." She said quietly.

"When you married me you married them." He returned, just as soft.

"I am not a polygamist."

"How do you feel about threesomes?"



"I would, but you're not overly fond of competition." She said as she stretched her arms over her head. He leaned over the desk.

"I think I'm going to enjoy the next few weeks." They walked out of the office and James tore off the cloak.

"Why didn't he tell me?" James was distraught with betrayal.

"Right, I almost forgot." Lily snorted. "You two are practically lovers." They had not finished their discussion from earlier and she had spent half an hour stewing over it while they watched the exchange.

"What are you going on about now?" James snapped.

"You two are inseparable; you finish each other's sentences, everyone knows how close you are; it's like I come second." She looked at him, sadly. "I'm tired of coming second, James."

"Are you saying…?"

"I'm not sure what I'm saying, not yet, but I think we should cool down for a bit. I guess we'll just have to see what happens."

"But I...you...we…Lily?" But she had already walked out the door.

--

**Author's Note**

Sorry it was so late guys! REALLY REALLY X 10000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 sorry! (That was a googol, one hundred zeros. I did a project on the googol in grade 10 math. I did pretty well, considering the fact that I did the whole thing in two days. Darn! I'm rambling again!) ANYWAYS! I am now officially 18 years of age. Yeah, scary isn't it? Also I passed my firearm safety course with flying colors! That's right! I won't be shooting anyone...Accidentally, that is. Heh heh heh.

So, on relationship is over, and anther is showing more potential. What could the future hold? (Whatever I want! BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!! A bit much? I thought maybe.) But yeah, most of you guessed right. And yes, marriage isn't exactly considered a 'fling', but do you really think that something like that would stop those two?

Sorry again for the delay and I hope that you can all find it in your hearts to forgive me. I haven't forgotten you! Actually, I've spent the past week writing up this chapter in biology and advanced math. 8D So I hope that you can let me off the hook because I've been trying to make this the best chapter I could.


	28. When Did You Become the Insightful One?

Katherine and Sirius got some strange looks as they finally proceeded to the Dining Hall. Of course, they often arrived late to meals together because Slughorn had made them partners in potions class and then assigned a huge project, therefore making her drag Sirius to the library (in all honesty Madam Pince wouldn't give him those scathing looks if he didn't make such a fuss every time he walked through the door) for hours of study and pouring over old tomes for ancient potion ingredients. However, this day was different. First off, it as a Saturday, and it was accepted that Saturday was Katherine's 'day of rest' by her friends since her last breakdown. Secondly, everyone knew about the wedding, and everyone had heard about the mess that the wedding actually was.

They quickly ducked over to Peter and Remus and sat down, as though sitting shielded them from the whispering and the glances thrown their way.

"What is going on with this school?" Kate asked through clenched teeth. "Last year everyone was fine barely acknowledged my existence, now they're all…..staring at me."

"Don't worry about it, Kitten!" Sirius said between bites of mashed potatoes. "They're just still in aw over our combined beauty. Don't worry, they'll get used to it."

"I wish they'd get over it."

"What did Dumbledore want?" Peter asked expectantly. He leaned in slightly, as did Remus.

"Tell you later." They replied simultaneously. Remus wore a knowing expression and nodded. There were too many people around to overhear them anyway.

--

The four of them were sitting in the Common Room about thirty minutes later making small talk while waiting for James and Lily to show up.

"I should say that I'm proud of him," Sirius said at one point, "Being gone for so long with his girl can only mean one of two things…well…maybe three."

"What's the third one?" Remus asked.

"They got lost in the woods doing the first two things." He gave a sly smirk.

"Good grief, Sirius," Kate scoffed, "can you think of nothing else?"

"I'm sure I could," he mused, "but why would I want to?"

It was at that moment that James walked through the portrait hole, he looked like he had been drinking, however he was, almost, completely sober. He walked as though he was in a daze; his shoes scuffed the floor as he dragged his feet along.

"James?" Kate asked. She was the first to notice him and the others turned to see him.



"Prongs mate, what's wrong?" Sirius asked, alarmed. James didn't answer. "Prongs?"

"I can't believe it." He muttered, his eyes wouldn't focus on them. "I just can't believe it."

"What's so unbelievable?" Remus asked. He and Peter both assumed that it had something to do with the espionage mission he and Lily had been sent on.

"James…" Katie asked carefully, "where's Lily?"

"Lily." He groaned and fell into the closest chair. "She…she dumped me…"

"She what?!"

"I think she did, at least." He set his elbows on his knees and let his head fall into his palms. "We're through."

"What did you do?" Katherine couldn't believe that her best friend would just dump the guy she had seen seeing for months over something trivial, she was crazy about James, he was nothing like the other guys she dated and she had said so on many occasions.

"She asked who I would pick I it came down to her or Sirius."

"And what did you tell her?"

"That it would depend on the situation, I guess that was the wrong answer." He hadn't lifted his head; they had to strain to hear him.

Although Kat was surprised, it wasn't like she could say that she had never been wrong before. For example, when she thought that Amos Diggory would make a good match for Lily, she was wrong then because Amos was, in fact, a lying cheating conniving jerk…but that was just her opinion after finding him in the second floor washrooms with his ex.

She got up and went up the stairs to the girls' dorm. She hadn't checked for Lily there sooner because everyone thought that she was with James, and he couldn't go up the stairs. Sure enough, when she opened the door, there was Lily. She was curled up on her bed, her cheeks were wet and her eyes were red and swollen.

"Oh, Lils," she whispered as she walked across the room and hugged her, "What have you gone and done this time?"

"I-I…" She couldn't get out whatever she was trying to say, fresh tears welled up in her eyes and spilled down her cheeks.

"Don't worry about it now; we'll talk after a good night's rest, alright?"



Lily simply nodded. Why would she dump James if it was going to affect her so much? Kate hugged her friends while she cried. She knew that James needed support too, but he had the other Marauders to keep him company.

When Lily woke up the next morning her eyes were still red and puffy, her head was pounding and her hair was a frizzy red mess, she could scarcely see straight. She wasn't delusional enough to think that her state was going to keep her from the interrogation she was about to receive.

"What happened, Lily?" Kate asked from her own bed.

"He didn't choose me." Lily said as she drew in a shaking breath.

"What are you talking about?"

Lily explained what she and James had been discussing the night before. It was hard to understand through all the sniffing and sobbing, she didn't want to be mean or anything, but Kate honestly just wanted her friend to calm down and explain things as though she were explaining their charms homework. If only Lily wasn't the emotional one of the two, things would have been so much simpler.

"Lily," she ran a tired hand through her hair, "why would you ask that?"

"Honestly? I don't know. I knew the answer before I even asked." She was about to cry again, it was time to take drastic action.

"Wait a minute and think about this rationally-"

"You're one to talk about being rational!" Lily fired back. "You got married to avoid getting married! How is that rational?"

"Lashing out at me won't fix your problems." She was starting to give up on the 'kind understanding friend' bit and was heading more for 'cold and critical acquaintance'.

"I-…suppose you're right." How could she disagree to such a cold acquaintance? "I'm just so…argh! IU don't know what it is but I-"she broke off and threw a pillow across the room. Though most people are angry at the ex during the angry phase of the breakup, it was clear that Lily was more annoyed at herself than anyone else.

"You were scared." Lily just gave her a look that was truly a 'what are you talking about you crazy person, you'. "You haven't had the best track record when it comes to boyfriends, and you and James were going so well that you assumed that he would hurt you like the others. So, to avoid being hurt, you came up with a stupid reason to dump him and did just that."

"…… when did the universe decide that you should be the insightful one?"

"When you finally made a mistake."



--

The two girls walked down the stairs to the common room an hour later. Kate was laughing and Lily was smiling, albeit hesitantly. Once she spotted the boy looking up at her with those sad brown eyes she all but ran back up the stairs.

"I'm going ahead to breakfast." The redhead said quietly. "You should stay and talk to your husband." She mocked in a whisper as she walked away.

"Morning all." Kate waved to them. James looked miserable, wistful, yet slightly hopeful as he looked at the spot that he had last seen _her_.

"How're things going?" Sirius leaned in and whispered into her hair from behind her. She sighed and leaned into him, needing his support in such a moment.

"She needs more time. She needs to figure things out for herself again. Don't worry though, she'll come around, it's just…I don't know how long it will take her. She's been perfect for too long…"

"He'll wait." He wrapped his arms around her waist and set his chin on the top of her head. "He's waited this long, he'll wait forever."

Remus and Peter just stared at them. One of them looked slightly amused, the other looking as though he had just lost his favorite chocolate frog card.

Then the fangirls decided to show up.

--

So…I'm sorry everyone! I only have... (Checks calendar)…11 more school days, seventeen more days total until exam week. After exam week it's grad week so I am going to be extremely busy (and quite possibly inebriated, but let's not get ahead of ourselves). I really feel like I've been neglecting the story, and worse, my readers! So, I'm going to go on a short break until I have time to do it justice. Kay?

Here's a little tid-bit to keep you happy until I find time to update again (hopefully soon!)

"_No can do, sorry mate, once women make up their minds you just can't sway them." _ (Sirius to James)

And you wanna hear a really sweet song? (Kinda funny too…) Check out "anyone else but you" by…oh darn…I think it was the Rotten Peaches or something like that...it's on the Juno soundtrack. And then there's "A little Priest" from the Sweeney Todd soundtrack! (I _love_ Johnny Depp's singing, I would totally tap that!) Don't you just love music? Ya know what? Just go out and download as many songs from Disney movies that you can, make a CD and just belt them out in the car with your best friend (if you don't have a car, the living room will do, or your own room if you like more privacy). Best. Time. EVER! We have the best times while we're in the line-up on the bridge to go to the states; some of the looks we get are priceless…when the windows are opened….heh heh heh.



ANYWAYS! To show me how much you'll all miss me in my (short?) absence, REVIEW! It will make me feel loved.

MUSE OUT!


	29. I’m not that bad, am I?

It had been a week; a week since the wedding, a week since the breakup. Word got around that Sirius and Katherine were together, though only seven people knew to what point and purpose. They hadn't really been able to spend much time together since the morning after they found out about James and Lily's breakup, and that was another story all together.

Lily had stopped hanging around the marauders and started spending more time with the others girls in her year. This left Kate with a problem because, although she cared about Lily and wanted to spend time with her, the other girls tended to…not like her. She had never set out to be well liked, she was an honest person and if none of them could handle that, then that was their own faults. And so, she found herself becoming farther and farther away from her best friend.

She wished that she could talk to Sirius about it (Lily thought that she was being childish about the whole thing) but they had such busy schedules because of their NEWTs and all of the things that they had to take care of for graduation that she hadn't had the chance. She knew that she wouldn't have actually talked about it until she figured out, and controlled, her own feelings. But she really wanted a hug! (Or a little more than just a hug…but that would have to wait.)

She settled for talking to Regulus every once in a while when they saw one another in the library. She liked talking to him. He was brutally honest with her when he told her how it was when everyone else would spare her feelings. She appreciated it, and valued their somewhat irregular friendship (if it could be called a friendship). Of course whenever they saw one another in the halls they didn't show any recognition, why should they? He was, after all, part of the purest of pure-blood families; he couldn't be seen with a dirty half-blood like her. They just chatted whilst looking for various research materials. No doubt it was different than talking to her other friends, but he would have to do until she could find the time to talk to Sirius…or Lily finally dealt with her problems, but who knew _when_ that would happen.

James, on the other hand, was having his own problems. As it so happened, James was prime boyfriend real-estate. Before, Lily had been the sole proprietor, but he was without owner and…well…the girls were in the market, so to speak. He asked for Sirius' advice, but Sirius' only skill was picking up women, not avoiding them.

"Sirius, you have to help me! They're _everywhere_!" He pleaded one day in the common room, his hands clasped in front of him as though he were praying to his best friend. It made sense, in Sirius' mind. He _was_ a god after all.

"No can do, sorry mate, once women make up their minds you just can't sway them."

"But…I can't take it anymore! They're following me to all my classes, watching me while I eat, stealing my underwear! I need peace! I need Lily." He started moping. His arms fell on the table, his head fell in his arms, and he let out a sound very close to that of a whimpering dog. (This was rather odd considering the fact that it was Sirius' potion in the group.)

"Prongs, I am about to give to some actual advice. This is very good advice, for a change, so listen up because I won't be repeating it." James looked up at him with wide eyes. Sirius never gave advice. He 

stated his opinion, often, but it was never of any help. "I won't say that you have to get over Evans, because at this rate it would only slow the process, but you do need to keep living. If she sees you moping around like a lost puppy waiting for her then she won't ever see what she's missing! If she thinks that she can just run back to you whenever she feels like it then she'll just keep doing what she's doing, and maybe even leading you on."

"I never thought that I would say this, but you're right Sirius." James actually grinned.

"I tr-Hey!"

--

Later that day Sirius decided to stroll through the halls on his free period. Of course, he could have been looking at the brochures he had been given (months earlier) or even (and this one's a laugh) doing his homework. He decided that homework was a waste of time since he already knew the material and his uncle Alphard had left him a decent amount of money so he would never have to work, so why not see what else was going on around the school? Unfortunately, there was very little of anything happening, so his time was wasted.

He returned to the common room, a bit depressed. He still had another chat scheduled with professor MacGonagall, one with Dumbledore, mountains of papers to fill out, and gowns to buy, the list went on. His head was starting to spin with all the things that he had put off when he saw a very feminine ankle disappear into the seventh-year boys' dorms. Normally he would have merely been curious, but since the un-lawful departure of James' underwear he had become more protective of the space. He quickly walked up the stairs, ready to apprehend the intruder and save his friend's possessions.

Just when he walked through the door, a hand reached out and grabbed him. HIs back was pushed against the rough stone surface of the wall. A hand covered his mouth and he could feel someone breathing against his cheek.

"We were better as friends than we are at being married." She muttered softly. He kissed her hand and pulled it away for his mouth.

"I guess you're right, Kitten. What do you suppose we do about that?"

"Oh, I have a few ideas, but…" she sent him a devilish grin "…we might have to skip a few classes."

"I think that might be arranged."

She kissed him then, slowly, sensually. What a tease. She was always teasing him. Not that he minded the actual teasing, just when the teasing stopped and he realized that he wasn't going to have any more fun. Sirius liked having fun. This time he was determined to make up for all those lost instances.

Just when he started to kiss her back, she pulled away. Was she trying to torture him? He really thought so when she dropped her shirt on the floor. She took a step back and smiled at him.



"Your turn."

Very soon, his shirt met hers on the floor and his lips were trailing their way down her collar bone. Kate smiled and ran her fingers through Sirius' hair. He looked into her eyes, grinning like a fool, and kissed her lips. She let her fingers loose from his black locks and started to work on the button of his pants.

"A little eager, aren't you?" He teased her.

"And you're not?"

Within minutes their clothes all lay on the floor and they were hidden behind the deep red curtains around his bed.

--

By the afternoon the rest of Sirius' friends were a bit worried. They hadn't seen hide nor hair of their evil master-mind since their morning class together. They had started searching the castle and grounds but found nothing. Eventually they sent Remus to their dorm to see if there were any clues into the mysterious disappearance.

Sirius and Katherine were still tangled up in one another – her asleep, him almost there – when Sirius heard the door open. He cracked his eye open and looked around. He heard someone sighing from the door, and then some scuffling.

"Sirius…" Someone grumbled. If it had been anyone but Remus he would have been able to talk his way out of the situation. Why did they have to send the smart one?

He sighed and carefully removed his body from Kitten's grasp. After wrapping one of the blankets they had kicked off during their escapade(s) around his waist he pulled back one of the curtains and stepped into the harsh light of the room.

"Sirius," Remus gave him a hard look, "I thought it was agreed that you wouldn't bring your whores in here."

"How did you-" He looked at the trail of clothes from the door to about half a meter from his bed. "-oh."

"So, you don't deny it."

"I deny that she's a whore, I also deny that I brought her up here. Just so you know she lured me here." For some strange reason, he doubted that he was getting himself out of trouble.

"So, who was it this time?" The sometimes-werewolf sighed and started rubbing his right temple. It was a bad habit he had. It isn't overly wise to

"I'm sorry Mooney, but I can't tell you that without her permission."



"When did you suddenly get a conscience?"

"When did you start asking so many questions?"

"I've always asked all the questions!"

"Exactly!"

"What?"

"Never mind. I'll be down in a moment or two, wait for me in the common room."

Just as Remus' hand touched to door knob there was a rustling of sheets and a distinctly feminine voice muttering sleepily.

"Sirius, where are my-" A disheveled head of hair popped between the curtains and trailed off midsentence. "Oh…hi Rem."

"Bloody hell, Sirius, what have you done."

"Now, come on." Kate defended. "I'm not _that_ bad, am I?"

"Not helping." Sirius mumbled to her.

"I thought you didn't skip class for sex, Sirius." Remus continued, it was an after-thought, of course.

"I don't. I _did_, however, skip class to consummate a marriage."

"What marriage? It's a sham! You only married her so that some other guy couldn't have her before you had a chance to enjoy yourself."

"That's not true!"

"Then why did you? Hm?"

Sirius froze.

--

OKAY!! I'm back! I swear I didn't fall off the face of the earth! (But it is really hot here…it's not the heat as much as it is the humidity, you know?) Anyways, I know that my chapters are never extremely long, but I made this one a bit longer than usual just for you! It's a sort-of apology for that little break o' mine. I don't really have much to say in this little blurb other than: Thanks for waiting/letting me take my vacation (trust me, it was much needed. Grad week has too many events in it.) And just so you know, my exams went fine and Grad week was fun (if not a bit stressful). All was good until my little brother, who is turning 17 soon, had a huge accident on his dirt bike and could have died. He's fine now, though. (He's still an idiot….a very accident prone idiot.)



And as for Sirius…I'm not even sure if he knows the answer to Remus' question. Do you? Tell me what you think, and maybe chew me out for taking so long, I don't mind! Just clickie the pretty (review) button!


	30. Tell Me About Your Dismal Rotten Life!

Sirius stood motionless in the middle of the dormitory, with only a blanket covering him. What was he supposed to say? How could he tell them the reason for his (extremely) rash actions when he didn't even know the answer? Of course, now that he thought back to when he thought of the moment that the plan raced across his mind, he was ecstatic about it, not worrying for his freedom like he should have been. He was hardly of age, after all, he should want as much freedom as possible, but she didn't compromise his need for that liberty. If he were to tell the truth, he knew that everyone expected them to annul the whole thing once she was of age, but when he talked to the wizard that married them, he hadn't even thought of the end, just the beginning.

His mind started working, searching for an answer to Remus' question. Sadly, luck was not with him, and his usually quick thinking left a bit to be desired. So he stood there, motionless, in the middle of the dormitory with nothing but a blanket covering him, trying to find a reason for getting married that would please his observant friend without offending the girl/woman in question.

"Remus, is it really fair to ask a question like that?" Katherine asked. Remus turned a bright shade of red and turned his head. Not because of the question, more because she had decided that she was tired of being naked and having nothing come out of it, so she got out of the bed (giving up the cover and protection that the curtains afforded her) and started to put on her clothes.

"I don't see why it isn't." He mumbled trying to avoid looking at her while he spoke. What could the poor guy do? She was his friend, he never saw her in 'that' way, but she was talking to him and he found it difficult to have a conversation without _some_ eye-contact. Poor little werewolf.

"Well, he's going to try to come up with a reason to please you, but such a reason might piss me off. He wouldn't want to do that because he knows that if he cheats on me I will not hesitate to castrate him. This means that he won't be enjoying the company of any of his 'whores', as you so lovingly called them, and would leave me his only form of entertainment. So he had better stay in my good books. How could he possibly come up with an answer to sate both of us and not make him look like a complete dolt? - You can turn around now, I'm dressed. – Which is why I will take my leave now. He can tell you whatever he wants." She turned to Sirius. "You might want to put something on too. Pretty soon Peter will be sent up on a rescue mission."

"You have got to be one of the strangest females I have ever met." Remus stared wide-eyed at her.

"I know, you tell me that on an almost daily basis."

She practically skipped out of the room and down the stairs. She was almost out the door when James asked her what the hell she was doing up there in the first place.

"Oh, you haven't heard? The fifth years are paying five Knuts for one of your socks, twelve for your pants, and a few galleons for your knickers. I could use some spending money and I figured you wouldn't mind..." She laughed at the look on his face while she jumped through the portrait hole.

--



"Hey Reg." Katherine chirped happily when she found him in the library. It was as though their library schedules had synchronized, very strange, though not unwelcome. He was looking through a book called 'Nocturnal Beasties and the Like' by B.J. Humperdink. She would have pointed out the innuendo to Sirius, maybe she would tell him later, but Regulus seemed more innocent somehow (despite his Slytherin-ness) and she would have hated to be the one to taint that.

"Reg? What kind of a name if Reg?" He wrinkled his nose distastefully, though very elegantly. Damn purebloods and their elegance.

"Don't worry, I do that to all of my friends. Remus is Rem, Peter is Pete, Lily is Lils, and James is Jimmy Jimmy Coconut!"

"That last one seems a bit off."

"It's original. During my first year, when Lucius Malfoy was here, I had the strongest desire to call my Lucy." She sighed wistfully.

"And what do you call my brother?"

"Sirius." She shrugged. "That or, 'hey you', but I think that my favourite is 'ass'. So, do tell me about your dismal, rotten life."

"You certainly are in a good mood this evening."

"I usually am after some good…class skipping."

"I don't even want to know."

"Then don't bother to ask." He had yet to look up from his book, and she took advantage of the fact that he hadn't looked at her. (It was hard to bring up some topics when someone is giving you a death glare that they perfected in the mirror.) "So, I've found the perfect girl for you and you should ask her out to Hogsmaede next weekend. While you're there you might want to propose, just to save yourself the trouble later on."

"Oh really?" He closed the book then, his thumb keeping his place, and he gave her the patented Slitherin 'what the hell are you talking about, you inferior being' look. "And why do you think that she's so perfect?"

"She's funny, and she wouldn't take all of your crap, she's a pureblood, and she's in your year and therefore doesn't hate me...yet."

"What house?"

"Ravenclaw."

"Then no."



"Oh, why not? I understand the whole 'family betrayal' thing, but compare this to what Sirius has done and you've got a paper cut next to an amputation."

"I'm not asking this girl out."

"Fine. I'll ask Connie, you just be at the Three Broomsticks by two o'clock, savvy?"

"Are you talking about Connie _Peirce_?" That was the reaction she was looking for! His eyes went a bit wider, his mouth hung open a little and his face was a tad paler. Excellent. "No! Absolutely not!" Not so excellent.

"Why not?" She pouted.

"Why should I?"

"Because she's perfect for you!" Madame Pince shushed them and Kate bit her lips. She tried not to laugh, really she did, she just had not self control on that particular day. So she was not at all surprised when Madam Pince stalked down the aisle and practically forced the two miscreants out of the library and away from her precious books.

"Sheesh, what's her problem?" Kate asked as she brushed the invisible dust off of herself.

"Maybe it's your annoyingly upbeat attitude." Regulus muttered.

"Sooooooooo….?" She bounced on the balls of her feet and looked at her friend expectantly.

"Fine," he sighed, "I'll ask her out." He was disgusted with himself, so say the least, for taking girl advice from her of all people. She was his sister-in-law. Though she hadn't told him straight out, it wasn't hard to ascertain considering the fact that the ministry and her uncle weren't after her. He wasn't blind to the way they looked at one another either (though they were most likely blind to it themselves). He didn't even _want_ to think about what made her so damn chipper before she found him; she was practically glowing with happiness. And, although he would never admit it out loud (especially to her) he actually enjoyed her annoyingly upbeat attitude.

She would be good for his brother, hopefully one of them could be mature every once in a while and they could live long enough to actually have some real kids instead of the rumored kind. Not that it should have mattered to him. He would not be a part of his brother's life, never get to meet his nieces and nephews. In fact, he wouldn't even be able to act like a snob whenever he saw Kate in the library for much longer. It really was too bad, she was becoming almost bearable.

"YAY!" She hugged him, which was odd enough in itself. "You are going to have the best date ever!" Since when was Katherine one to squeal like a besotted third year?

"Gee thanks. But could you please let go of me? I'm having trouble breathing."

"Yeah, I have that effect on people." She said as she ruffled his hair, much to his displeasure.



--

Once she had finished meddling with her brother-in-law's love life - he would thank her later, she was sure – Kate had little else to do but aimlessly wander the halls and grounds. Left with nothing but her thoughts for company, she couldn't help but wonder about what Rem had asked Sirius.

Why had he married her? Sure, there was the standard 'we're friends and I couldn't stand by and…' yadda yadda crap, but why really? There could be plenty of reasons. Perhaps he had gotten bored with the way things had been, maybe he just wanted to see what it was like to be married. Maybe it actually _was_ because he was too loyal a friend to simply hope for the best. It could have been how useless and pathetic she was on her own and decided to help her out for a bit.

She didn't know why these options hurt her so much. Of course, anyone would have been pained by thoughts like those, but they wouldn't have felt the way she did. The gaping hole in her chest that seemed to shallow her up would not have been there had she been thinking of Remus, or even Regulus. What did she expect, for him to need her as much as she needed him?

She stopped suddenly, somehow in the same spot on the quittich pitch that she had been when Sirius rescued her from Mooney. (It wasn't _really _Remus, after all.) Since when did she need Sirius? Where had that thought even come from?

She didn't, she couldn't…right?

--

Once Kitten had waltzed out the door, Sirius wished for nothing more than the chance to go with her. Unfortunately, that wouldn't have changed the look that Mooney was giving him. He wanted an answer. It really was too bad that he couldn't give him one.

"Listen, mate, I…I don't have an answer for you." Sirius shrugged and turned his head, he didn't want to see the look on his friend's face.

"You should think about that." Remus said in a low tone. "And don't think that I'm just being nosy, Sirius. Even you don't know why you're doing all of these things and one of these days you'll wake up and question everything you've done. You may as well have an answer ready when that day comes." He turned towards the door and opened it. "You should really put some clothes on."

--

Author's Note

Okay, so I know that I told some of you that this chapter would be out on Friday…I'm sorry. Yes, it's technically still Friday, but some people might have wanted to actually READ it today, and it's kind of late. I'm sorry.



Anyways, Sirius couldn't answer the question, too bad, huh? Oh well, at least Kate got a chance to think a little, right? Tell me what you thought about this one in a nice long review…or a short one if you don't have much time on your hands. DX


	31. I See a Slytherin!

Professor Hood had just finished up with his seventh-year class. Sometimes they were a bright bunch, but usually (as it was today) they lacked the attention span to actually be taught. Not that he could really complain about them specifically, most of his classes were the same. It was really no wonder that the Defense Against the Dark Arts job had a new opening every year, besides 'the curse', there were few people he knew who had the dedication required to manage the rowdy bunch. (And if they didn't have the dedication, they needed to know how to cause fear.)

The class filed out. He looked around and saw that two faces were missing from the bunch. Of course, they were usually late, but they almost always managed to sneak into the room in time to leave and act like they had been there the whole time.

"Miss Evans, could I speak with you for a moment please?"

"Of course, professor." Lily calmly walked up to his desk. Once everyone left the room their demeanors changed completely and they were no longer teacher and student. "What can I do for you Jake?" She asked.

"Where's Katie? I haven't seen her all day."

"Well, I wouldn't be the one to ask." Her tone was rather irritated.

"What happened between the two of you?"

"Nothing." He could tell that the subject was closed. "You would be better off talking to her husband if you want to know where she is." She huffed.

"Husband? I thought that she got out of that."

"You didn't know about her and Sirius?" As soon as the words were spoken her eyes went wide and she slapped her hand over her mouth in an effort to retract them. "I shouldn't have told you that."

"No, you probably shouldn't have." He stood and strode out of the room. He probably wouldn't have gotten worked up over it had Katie told him herself…who was he trying to kid, he would have murdered the boy either way.

He had to find his little sister. He had to protect her from whoever he thought she needed to be protected from, and Sirius Black was one of those people.

0O0

Once he was finally dressed, Sirius decided to actually take Mooney's advice and think. It was a first on both accounts. He decided that a quick trip around the quittich pitch on his broom ought to clear his head.

He got to the pitch and saw the very girl that plagued his thoughts. It was much sooner than he had expected to run into her again. He would have called out to her, but she seemed so lost in thought that 

he didn't want to disturb her. She walked across the pitch, still thinking, when she suddenly stopped. Her head shot up and she looked frantic, confused.

He walked over to her, not trying to be quiet by any means, but he still scared her.

"Kitten?"

"Sirius!" She jumped higher than his family's house-elf when his mother called it. Only Kreature always jumped from excitement. "I was just…I was…um…" She had an anxious look on his face, one that he hadn't seen since her almost-wedding.

"Are you feeling-"

"I'm fine, why do you ask?" Of course she answered too quickly. His suspicions were peaked.

"No reason." He had no idea why she would be acting that way. Maybe she was thinking about what Remus had said, like he was. Maybe she was having doubts about marrying him, no matter how long they stuck it out. If he was at all lucky, she was thinking about how close she came to a life with the man her uncle had intended for her, of course he felt like an ass for even thinking such a thing.

"I've been thinking about your flying lessons," he said, trying to calm her down, "we've been neglecting them and there's more for you to learn. Would you like to continue now?"

She looked up at him and the confusion in her brown eyes hurt him more than it should have.

"I'd like that." The bafflement dulled as she smiled and he found himself smiling back as he handed her his broom. She glanced at the broom in her hands and shot him a questioning look.

"You should get a chance with the best broom ever made, to see how well you can handle it."

'I wouldn't be too sure about that.' She thought despairingly. She remembered the look in his face when he unwrapped the Nimbus on his birthday. She could still see the way he lovingly gazed at it when he first opened it, how he gently polished it the day after her first flying lesson.

"Maybe we shouldn't, it's one thing if I kill myself, another if I take your broom out too." Although she tried to sound like she was kidding, her voice was still raw with unease.

"You were thinking of killing yourself!?" Sirius' eyes went wide, panicked, and sad. It made some kind of sense to him. Actually, it didn't, but it could have explained the look that she had on her face.

"No, I –" She couldn't even finish her sentence. She found herself suddenly pressed against a warm chest, held there by a pair of arms that she felt no urge to push away.

"Please do ever scare me like that again." He whispered against her hair. He knew that he was being melodramatic, he was always one to do things in extremes, but the way he felt when she said those simple words _"It's one thing if I kill myself…"_ he almost had a heart attack, or a stroke, or the sudden urge to jump off a very tall building.



"Why?" Her voice was small, almost inaudible.

"Don't leave me." He whispered against her temple. "Please. I need you."

"You…need…me…?" She was in a daze. "Why do _you_ need _me_?"

"Because you keep me from doing stupid things." He muttered matter-of-factly.

"You married me. Wasn't that stupid?"

"No."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Why did you agree to it?"

"You can't answer a question with a question."

"Fine." She felt his sigh against her hair. "I married you because I needed you. I didn't want anyone else to have you, and I didn't want anyone but you."

"Why was all of that past tense?"

"Because I was wrong." She inhaled sharply as the pain started to grow again. "I was wrong to give you only one option. What if you wanted someone else, but couldn't have them because you're tied to me? What if you didn't want me at all?" The pain receded and she felt warmth spread through her.

"What if you were wrong? What if I didn't want anyone else, what if I only wanted you?"

"Then I wouldn't deserve you and have to let you go anyway."

"Ass." She snuggled against his shoulder. "You would have to wait for me to send you away, you know."

"Now you have to answer my question."

"What was that?"

"Why did you agree to marry me?"

"Maybe I was tired of sneaking around." She joked. She leaned up and whispered in his ear. "Or maybe I need you too."

Then she kissed him.

0O0



After the flying lesson that never happened, Sirius and Kitten were laying on their backs in the middle of the quittich pitch observing the clouds.

"Look!" She said, sounding very much like a six-year-old. "That one's a bunny!"

"I can't see any bunnies, I see a wingless dragon."

"Those are called dinosaurs." She scoffed immaturely.

"Way to bring me down." Sirius snorted. "That one's a snitch."

"Now you sound like James. Everything's about quittich." He could practically feel her eyes rolling.

"But you do see the snitch."

"Unfortunately. And now I see a Slytherin! Oh look, another one!"

"I can see that too, strange, huh?"

"You're telling me."

"What are you two doing on our pitch?" One of the Slytherin girls asked in a way that said that she was obviously better than they were. But then again, she was a Slytherin, so it was to be expected.

"Obviously, we were looking at the clouds." Katherine said from her prone position on the ground.

"We've got the pitched booked. Get off." The captain said as he looked down his nose at them.

"Sirius, they're in my sun." She whined. The entire Slytherin quittich team had surrounded them and was staring down at them with different degrees of curiosity and loathing evident on their faces.

"Um hm." Sirius had long since laid back on his arms and closed his eyes. He was the very essence of serenity at that moment.

There seemed to be unease in the Slytherins at that moment, many of them were grumbling and moving around. When all of that finally stopped, Katherine looked up and saw her big brother standing over her and he didn't look very impressed.

"I looked for trouble and as expected found you in the middle of it." He muttered. "Black, Keaton, my office. Now."

0O0

Author's Note time!!

I am terribly sorry! I wanted to have this chapter up a little less than a week ago, but I couldn't make myself happy with it so I ended up rewriting it three times. As it is, I'm not overly proud of it like I was 

the last one. Maybe I should….no, it's too late and if I don't post it now I will be burned at the stake or something equally devious, because you can all be very devious when you want to be, I'm sure.


	32. Letting Go

To say the least, Sirius was terrified. He never intended to tick off a professor, but he also forgot that marrying Kitten – even in such a rushed fashion – made Professor Hood his in-law. His entire family was married to the rest of his family so they had no in-laws; he had forgotten that they existed.

He walked, trudged really, with Kitten behind the man that he feared at that moment.

"You didn't tell him?" He whispered to her urgently. His voice barely bounced off of the cold, stone walls.

"I was getting around to it." Her tone was apologetic though he could still tell that she actually had _no_ intention what-so-ever of telling her older brother that she had married to, in fact, avoid getting married. Funny that he had never found the irony in that. Hopefully that would not be the last time he ever thought of irony…or funny.

"Maybe you should have gotten around to it before he decided to slice off my-"

"Hurry up, you two, we have to be to dinner in fifteen minutes." Sirius felt a sudden sense of relief, he couldn't possibly be maimed _too _much in fifteen minutes….could he?

Professor Hood ushered the two students into his office and had them sit down, on separate sofas. The office was warm and inviting (to anyone but Sirius at that moment). The windows allowed enough light into the room to brighten up the usually dark stone walls. On the floor lay a dark burgundy patterned rug that was so thick that someone could lose a limb to it. There was a desk pushed up against the back wall that was obviously not used, Jake did most of his marking in his classroom, and two large off-white sofas that faced each other took up the majority of the room with a small table in between them.

No matter where they were though, Katherine and Sirius were tense. Sirius sat straight-backed on his sofa, his hands gripping his knees, his face as hard as stone while he tried to hide his anxiety. Kate had wrapped one arm around herself, the other hand was raised to her face as she bit her thumbnail. Her eyes followed her big brother as he leaned against the mantle, to the window, to the chair that sat on top of the abandoned desk. All the while he ran his hand over his face, sighed and shook his head. Jake took the chair off of the desk and set it at the head of the small table so that he could see their reactions.

0O0

James sat in the common room and sighed. Once Kate had left Remus trudged down the stairs. Of course he and Peter had asked him what was going on.

"_Oh nothing, Sirius and Kate just decided to have a nice long chat." _He told them. Of course if it were any other girl James would not have believed him, but Katie was different. She was doing something to Sirius, though he wasn't quite sure what it was he couldn't object to the change. He liked what was happening to his friend, he seemed happier, with a real happiness with real smiles to replace his usual grins and smirks. If Sirius were to 'have a nice long chat' with any girl in their dorm it would have to be her.



James was also very naïve - and everyone else knew it – which was why Remus had chosen to lie to him rather than taint his pure little mind. It was Sirius' job to taint innocent minds. In fact, it was strange that James was as naive as he was considering how much time he spent with Sirius.

James sat in one of the chairs by the fire, staring at the fames without seeing them as he contemplated life and women. He was having trouble with both at that point. His most pressing question was why the girls in the school were suddenly taking an interest in him and leaving Sirius alone. Sirius liked the attention, he lived for it, yet suddenly he could care less about the girls who were ready to throw themselves at him…James was rather shocked that all of his thinking actually came to some kind of result. The reason that he was suddenly the 'it' infatuation was because Sirius had stopped being the playboy that everyone had come to know and put-up with. And the whole reason that he wasn't chasing skirts was because he was spending too much time chasing Katie.

"I really should have starting thinking sooner." He muttered to himself, rather pleased with the result of his musings.

He heard the portrait swing open and made the mistake of looking to see who it was. He felt a tightening in his chest when he saw the deep red hair, his breath caught in his throat when he looked into the emerald green eyes, he felt himself whither up when she hastily turned away and laughed at something one of her new friends had said.

How he hoped that she was laughing at him instead. He missed her, to say the least. They had only been together a few months but it felt like longer, and at the same time not long enough. He wanted to sit with her like they used to. He just wished that he could talk to her again, but she had put up an invisible wall that it seemed even her best friend couldn't break through. He wanted to shirk their head boy and head girl duties, but she had decided that separate patrols would be more effective. She avoided him like the plague and he could only find any solace in the fact that she didn't seem to smile as brightly as she used to, though it was a corrupted consolation.

He sighed again and leaned back in his chair. Perhaps the next day she would let her eyes meet his and he would have some idea how she was feeling. If she was happy then maybe, just maybe, it would be easier to let her go.

0O0

Jake sat in his chair, trying to find the words that he needed in order to be firm, but fair. Who really cared if he was fair? His sister had married a man-whore to escape marrying a possibly abusive husband who quite possibly had numerous other wives. He was probably angrier at himself for not being able to think of a better solution, but it was best to let them sweat it out and assume the worst.

"So," he spoke slowly, allowing every word to sink in, "You've eloped."

"Yup, so how's Helene?" Katherine said quickly, trying to change the subject.

"She's fine, stop trying to avoid the topic at hand."



"But it has to do with the topic at hand." She defended easily. Sirius was a bit confused, he had no clue who this 'Helene' was or how she was related to the discussion at all.

"That was a completely different circumstance."

"No it wasn't, you hypocrite! You were only nineteen and she-"

"She was eighteen, but you two are sixteen and seventeen, that is a huge difference. You're both still in school! What about your future plans?"

"I have no intention of standing in the way of what Sirius wants, and I expect him to do the same for me."

"What about kids?" At the mention of children Sirius started choking, which was a strange occurrence in itself considering the fact that there was nothing in his mouth at the time.

"No kids." He gasped. He coughed a few more times, thumped himself on the chest and leaned forward. Finally, once he could breathe again, he spoke. "Professor, I know that you're trying to do the right thing here, but Kitten is anything but an idiot. We both realize that we're still young, too young to be taking this as seriously as it should probably be taken, but there will be an easy way out if she wants once she becomes of age. And as for...children...as you've said, we're not even out of school yet so not it hardly the time to have any...right?" He looked over to his 'wife' with wide eyes, as though pleading with her not to be pregnant.

"Absolutely." She nodded and they both sighed. Jake could see them both relaxing, obviously they had never talked about their plans or expectations going in, not that there would have been much time.

He remembered his own trials starting once he had married Helene. They had never thought about what they would have been sacrificing, only that they were in love. They had been foolish to think that love was all it took to make a marriage work. After many arguments, and a few times when one party or the other walked out, they finally decided that what they were sacrificing by being together was much less than they would have given up had they abandoned one another. It was only after two years together that everything started becoming easier, more affectionate. Of course, they fought from time to time, but that is healthy in any relationship. Only conflict can give birth to reconciliation, after all.

Jacob Hood tried to be an understanding man, really he did, but his little sister was always the exception. She was too young, too breakable, and too passionate (even though she tried to act wise beyond her years, as strong and indifferent as marble). He knew her well and wanted to keep her safe from all of the pain that the outside world held for her. Heartbreak was one such pain. But, at the same time, he also knew that if he tried to keep her locked away she would start to resent him, and so he had to let her go...but only a little.

"Welcome to the family." He extended his hand and shook the younger man's.



"Thank you, sir." Sirius was in a daze. Once what his Professor said had sunk in, he stood up and started pumping his arm enthusiastically. "Thank you very much, sir."

Jake knew that he had done the right thing when Katie wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"Oh, Jakie, I knew you had it in you! You're wonderful!"

"Right, well, once you're both done, I think that dinner should be ready soon."

Sirius had the good grace to look embarrassed at his actions. (He shouldn't have needed the older brother's blessing; he was Sirius Black for Merlin's sake!) Katherine let go of her brother's neck and fairly skipped out the door. Sirius was about to follow her, but Hood put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"I accept this, Mister Black, but you should know that I _will_ be watching. If you hurt her, I _will_ hurt you, I wouldn't give a second thought to this job if that were to happen. Do you understand?" His face was expressionless, his tone menacing.

Sirius looked him dead in the eye, all of his usual buoyancy gone. "I wouldn't have it any other way, sir."

0O0

Author's Note

Okee day everyone, here's the next instalment! Hope that you all enjoy it. I would like to thank all of my faithful reviewers, you are now my peeps. Whenever I say 'word out to ma peeps!' I am addressing all of you! I would also like to congratulate Venezuela for winning the Miss Universe thinger; I suppose that it's a good thing. Personally I was a bit disgruntled that Uganda didn't have anyone representing them. I mean, come on, they have a President AND a Prime Minister and they can't send someone to the Miss Universe thinger? Jeeze. (I'm kidding, by the way. There was a Miss South Africa...why was I even watching that? Sometimes I question my time management skills...I've never NOT questioned them now that I think about it. Damn, I'm rambling again.)

So, now that I'm done rambling, word out to ma peeps!


	33. Introspection

_Her dark hair splayed across the pillows, over her shoulders, a few strands stuck to her parted lips as she whispered his name. And, oh, how his name sounded as she spoke it. He picked up the pace. Through her half-closed lids he could see the glittering russet irises as she tried to focus on his face. _

His_ face, no one else's. _

_To see the love in her eyes while they lay side-by-side in the aftermath of what they had done, it was intoxicating._

Peter woke up with a start. Of course he had been dreaming of her. Sirius went crazy while dreaming of her for a few months, but what if he had to endure it for years?

He only had himself to blame for their closeness, though. If only he hadn't needed to study so much to give him a better chance come NEWTs, they wouldn't have been left alone and Sirius wouldn't have been - well - Sirius and stolen her out from under him. Remus had been telling him since third year that he needed to make his move, to just strike up a conversation for once to see if his feelings were founded on anything other than the physical. Then he told him to get over his issues and just ask her out. He did neither.

And he had to pay the price. He had to watch one of his closest 'friends' parading around with the girl that he had loved since they had been sorted seven years before. How he burned with the injustice of it all. Perhaps if he had made his move then _he_ would have been the one proudly walking from class to class with his arm around her waist, _he_ would have been the one that his friends caught in the dormitory with her, and_ he_ would have been the one she looked at with such adoration in her eyes.

Sirius didn't deserve to be seen by those eyes, he didn't deserve to kiss those lips, and he definitely didn't deserve to have her in his bed whenever he beckoned her. She shouldn't be Sirius' whore, no matter what the circumstances.

He had been napping as a rat on Sirius' bed. The bed still smelled like her, which could have been why his last dream felt so real to him. The bed also smelled like sex...and Sirius. He scurried to his own bed and tuned back into Peter Pettigrew. He dusted off his clothes, fixed his hair, and made his way to dinner. He wasn't hungry, but if he could see her, even if she was with _him_ then maybe he could go another day.

0O0

Sirius slowly walked out of Professor Hood's office in some sort of daze. The fact that he had been threatened hardly registered to him, he was still in shock. What could have ever possessed that man to extend his hand and welcome him? He, the one that had to seal the marriage contract by sleeping with the professor's little sister.

Sure, the contract was solid, but it wouldn't be filed by the ministry until the marriage was consummated. And so they consummated it in a small room of that stone mansion with a crowd of people only one floor below them. (It had been a surreal experience, almost as though some sort of 

ancient magic was at work. Yet there was no one there but them, and neither of them had said any spells or incantations...unless he counted the way she whispered his name into his ear, just thinking about it made him want to take her back to that tiny little room that was empty except for an old piano.)

And yet, despite all of that, Professor Hood had extended his hand and welcomed him to the family.

Sirius was finally part of a family. He knew nothing of that family, and he was sure that Kitten knew only a bit more than he did, but _she_ was his family and her brother had acknowledged and accepted that fact. He knew that the Potter's cared for him, but there was just something different about being welcomed into _her_ family. She was...everything.

With this sudden revelation came the end of the daze and a lovely view of the object of his affection's back. If only it were closer so he could get a better look at the subtle way her hips moved as she walked, and how her robes billowed around her ankles. He loved her ankles, and her hips, and the way her back curved toward his when she – where was an out-of-tune piano when he needed one? It could have even been in tune, it would have only made a slight difference in sound, considering the fact that they would have never hit the same keys twice anyway.

Soon, he caught up to her and got to admire her from a completely different angle. He was amazed at the simple pleasure he got from just looking at her, he was even more astounded at what happened to him when they were just talking. She took his arm and they walked in silence, her head resting on his shoulder.

"I'm so tired." She purred into his neck. He had never doubted his original assumption that she was like a cat; he just changed it so that she was more like a happy house cat that enjoyed basking in the sun.

"Well, if you hadn't cornered me and taken advantage of me for most of the day, none of this would have happened, would it?" He let his head roll to the side and rest on top of hers. It was nice, just walking and thinking about everything they had done to each other in the past twenty-four hours. "I've been thinking a lot about pianos lately."

"You would." She rolled her eyes. "But I like it." How he loved it when she stroked his ego.

"Shall we dine m'lady?" He separated from her, bowed low, and kissed her hand once they reached the doors to the Great Hall.

"Indeed, noble sir, lead the way." She grabbed his hand and kissed him as they walked through the doors.

The Great Hall silenced as they walked in. Although everyone knew that they were together they had never made any public gesture to actually show it. So, naturally, they stopped their idle chit-chat to watch as the couple walk to their table, hand in hand.



"I am getting really tired of all of this staring." Kate muttered. "It's like being in a zoo, only _we're_ the camels in the giant cage." She stabbed her fork a bit too violently into whatever she had put on her plate. (She was much too distracted to notice such trivial things such as what she was ingesting.)

Sirius just smirked and let her continue mutilating... he couldn't tell what it was since she had maimed it beyond recognition. His smirk grew a bit wider.

"So, Pete, how's the studying going?" Sirius asked as he spooned some mashed potatoes onto his plate.

"Oh, fine, I just keep messing up my notes." He poked at the food on his plate half-heartedly.

"Well, keep at it, if you want I'll help you out sometime." He shoved piece of treacle into his waiting mouth.

To say the least, Peter was amazed. Did Sirius have no idea that he hated him? Didn't he know that, if he could, he would steal his woman and leave him for dead? It shocked him that Sirius' self-assurance knew no bounds. Well, it was bound to happen with all of the attention James and everyone else gave him, although Peter suspected that James was only so very devoted to Sirius because he felt sorry for him with his unloving family.

Peter merely nodded and left the table. He had seen her, watched her, listened to her, and he still loved her. Remus obviously didn't know what he was talking about when he said that it was only a 'superficial physical attraction that probably has little to do with actual emotion'. James had told him that he should have made his move sooner, or at least made one, so that he would have been able to get over his 'little crush', he wasn't saying much of anything since Lily broke up with him.

What did they know? Did they lay awake at night thinking about a girl that wasn't theirs?

Had he actually thought about it he would have realized that James had been dreaming of Lily for just as long as he had Kate, and that he still had to live with the fact that she had been his and then left him. There was also Remus, who was too self-sacrificing to ever let himself get involved with someone, no matter how much he cared. (In fact, it could be debated that he would stay farther away the more he cared.)

Peter, however, couldn't see those things. All that he could see was his own pain and the injustices put onto him. How selfish, he was. How blind and ignorant to the truth, he was being.

0O0

And then there was Lily. She was stuck at her new usual place at the Gryffindor table between Henrietta and Margaret while they chatted about trivial things that they found to take utmost precedence. She found their 'discussions' rather bland and pointless. She missed her pointless conversations with Kate, mostly because they were never bland, but also because Kate never felt the need to impress anyone and actually spoke her mind instead of what she read from 'Witch Weekly'.



Of course, she had been the one to distance herself. She hadn't known it at the time, but she saw it soon after. She remembered when Kate had come up to her and confronted her.

"_What's your problem, Lily? Am I not good enough to be your friend anymore? Or are you just too caught up in your new friends?"_ To say the least Lily was shocked.

"_Stop being so paranoid, Kate! It's not like you can't join us. You're being childish."_

"_I've tried! You know I've tried, but every time I show up they stick their noses in the air and ignore me. Worse yet, you've started acting just like them! You know what, never mind. I can see that this is going nowhere. You know where to find me when you come to your senses."_

The sad part was that she did know where to find her. She would be snuggling up next to her husband in some hidden corner, doing her homework with Remus in the library, or (even worse) laughing with James in the common room.

Lily didn't know who she missed more, Kate or James, but she did miss them. She longed for the way things were so much that it hurt. But then again, it was her own fault and therefore her pain to bear. She told herself to suck it up and forced herself to enthusiastically join in Henrietta and Margaret's conversation.

0O0

Author's Note

I've been noticing these weird squares in my chapters, well peeps, it's whenever a new page starts and I have no clue what to do about it...unless you wanted me to make all of my chapters less than a page long (which I doubt anyone wants). I'm very sorry for the confusion that this may cause you...of course by now you've probably just written them off as an annoyance and have learned to ignore them. My sincerest apologies.

I would also like to tell you all that I am deathly ill and probably will be for some time. Again I apologize. I'm also sorry that there was very little in the way of plot advancement in this chapter. I just had to touch base on everyone's feelings and what-not, and we haven't heard from Lily in a while so I figured that we should see how she's doing. Anyways, my loverly readers...review for me!

Word out to ma peeps!


	34. I Hate The Future

James, having lost all hope in the future, was in the library. It was funny; he had only ever set foot in the library if it involved some kind of prank until his seventh year. Until she had finally given in and gone out with him. The only reason he went to the library after she left him was probably in some vain attempt to hold on to a part of their relationship, the one that had been annulled just twelve days before. It felt like longer.

He still held onto the slim hope that he would walk in and see that shimmering red hair spilling across one of the tables and the homework that she didn't need done for another three weeks. He had given up on the hope that he would get the chance to talk to her again. It really was too bad that he would never get to look into those sparkly green eyes again. He supposed that he could always try to win her back, but considering the fact that it had taken him seven years to win her over in the first place he doubted that anything would come of it. She was just too stubborn.

He made his usual round of the room and left. Just another day as the lost little boy that he had become without her. He found himself quite pathetic, but what could he do?

0O0

Little did James know that he had just missed Kate, who had left the library only moments before he had entered it. She had done her own little scan of the shelf-filled room and promptly badgered Regulus into telling her that he had, in fact, asked Connie Peirce to Hogsmeade the next day. (They would be meeting at the Three Broomsticks at one.) She told him that he would thank her in the long run, kissed his cheek, and waltzed out the door.

Once she left the library, and the piercing gaze of Madam Pince, she skipped merrily down the hall humming some nameless tune. It was while she was skipping and humming that she saw a notice on the wall, because who had time for anything as simple as a communal bulletin board?

_Attention All Seventh Year Students_ it read in loopy writing, so she stopped skipping (though she continued humming) to read it.

_During the next Hogsmeade weekend, all seventh year students will be given the opportunity to go out and buy robes for the upcoming Graduation ceremonies. All graduating students are urged to take advantage f this opportunity, and also reminded that they will be representing Hogwarts' School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Each student is also asked to use extreme caution and to shop in groups of three or more (preferably more) to help ensure the safety of your classmates during such a trying time in the wizarding world._

_All under-aged students must have signed permission from a legal guardian before leaving the school premises._

_Happy Hunting!_

_Albus Dumbledore_

The First thought that popped into her head was 'Who in their right mind would name their kid Albus?' The second was 'Why would we need a whole day just to buy robes?' The second thought was quickly dismissed as she remembered some of the girls in her year, the ones that made her want to run as fast as she could into a brick wall every time they spoke.

Her third thought was of Lily. She remembered that the night before they hadn't even spoken as they were climbing into their neighbouring beds. It hurt not to have a girl that she could really talk to, although Remus was doing well considering his gender. It hurt even more not to be able to speak to her best friend at all. True, she had told James to wait a bit as Lily was fragile at the time, but it hurt so much to be the shoulder to cry on one day and a complete stranger the next.

"Katie?" She heard James trying to get her attention. Where had he come from anyway? "Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why?" She managed one of her bigger smiles, trying to displace the pain that had accumulated in her gut. Maybe she had been too hard on Lily, she was fragile after all.

"Don't give me that, you're crying." He was scolding her.

"I am?" She touched her cheek and was shocked to feel tears on them. "I hadn't even noticed."

"Come on, the notice can't be that bad."

"Have you ever really talked to anyone about Lily?" She blurted out. She didn't know what made her say it; it was a touchy subject that everyone had been avoiding.

"No one has ever asked." He simply shrugged, but his eyes were clouded over. Did Lily not know what she had tossed aside?

"Would you like to? Because I'm always ready to listen if you do."

"I know, and I'll keep that in mind. So...did you ask Sirius for permission to go yet?" He nodded to the notice.

"Oh, I have to ask him, don't I...I'm not all that sure I want to go in the first place."

"Why not? I was only kidding, he'll let you go, in fact he'll probably drag you along with us so that we don't clash, or something equally as terrible." He rolled his eyes.

"I wouldn't be much help, I'm terrible with colours. And don't most schools have standard graduation robes?"



"Hogwarts' hasn't since Dumbledore took over; he has this thing for individuality. Besides, there's a ball afterwards and it wouldn't do to have all the girls take _another_ three hours to prepare for that so they may as well wear something nice. So why on earth would you not want to go buy dress robes with us?"

"If I buy the damn robes then I'm one step closer to leaving. As many issues as I've had with this place it's always been home. I am going to miss it, and all of the wonderful people I've met here. And then there's this whole war. Our generation will be the next to fight it and our generation will be the next to lose good people to it."

"Well, we'll keep in touch, so that's one less thing you have to worry about. As for the war, we'll watch one another's backs, and we'll win. Well, maybe _we_ won't win, but our children might stand a better chance because of our efforts and so on and so forth. It's all about the future."

"I hate the future."

"Well, you of all people should be happy, you have already found yours."

"My what?"

"Nothing. Maybe I'll tell you when you're older." He smirked and started walking down the corridor toward the stairs.

"You are a strange, strange lad, Jimmy Jimmy Coconut."

0O0

Late that night Kate woke up with a start. The room shook and was lit up with an ethereal light. She was terrified. Before the next rumble of thunder she had already jumped out of the bed and was running down the stairs. She had to stop in the middle of the Common Room to cover her ears from the thunder, it got louder every time.

Once it was over, she was up the next set of stairs and in and nice warm bed in record time.

"Whaz goinon?" Sirius sat straight up and looked around. He was bewildered and disoriented, and then he saw quivering form on the bed beside him and understood. "Kitten? What's wrong?"

"You mean you can't hear that? The rumbling alone is enough to make me wonder if the world is coming to an end!"

"The world is not coming to an end." He sighed and held her close to him. She clung to him and her trembling lessened.

Usually she would have just sucked it up and stayed in her own room (everyone knows that blankets have super-powered protecting abilities anyway), sometimes she and Lily would talk until the storm passed or they fell asleep. She couldn't stand it anymore. She actually didn't even think about her fear much, she thought only of Sirius.



Once he thought that she was asleep he tried to extract himself from her very tight grasp, he almost succeeded too. He was just going to the couch again, he didn't want another scene when his friends woke up and saw her there; they might ask that dreadful question again.

"Don't leave." She muttered in her sleep when he reached for the curtains. "You won't come back, just like Daddy." She didn't know what she was saying, she couldn't...but how could he deny her such a simple request? She really made things much simpler than they should be, their 'relationship' for instance. He sighed and crawled over to her again, gathering her in his arms and holding her close.

"I'm not going anywhere." He whispered into her hair.

In her semi-conscious state, Katherine smiled serenely and snuggled closer to her giant teddy bear. (Teddy bears have greater protecting abilities than blankets in any case.)

0O0

"Wake up Siriu-"James threw open the curtains to his best friend's bed and paused. He had seen his best friend in many compromising positions (although most of them were intentionally blocked from his innocent little memory...and in broom cupboards, secret passages and once on Professor Slughorn's desk) but he had never found him in their dorm with a girl, let alone in such a position with Kate. They _were_ married, but James was so very pure that he thought nothing of the 'marital acts' that they could be taking part in.

"Not now Leonard." Kate muttered into her pillow – Sirius' chest.

"Who's Lenard?" Sirius sounded fully awake in an instant, and almost jealous.

Neither had noticed that James was standing there, so he stealthily walked away, letting them talk about Kate's betrayal. (Although Sirius had never been the model of fidelity.)

"Not 'Lenard', it's more French, Lay-oh-nard. Thank Merlin it was just a dream. Darius showed up when I was at the stairwell, only we weren't friends so you couldn't save me," she stretched and yawned, then continued with her story, "and he told me that I had to marry a flying unicorn with a purple handlebar moustache named Leonard. It was horrifying." She wiped the sleep from her eyes and sat up.

"A purple handlebar moustache? Well, I can see that I have nothing to worry about then." He sat up next to her and swung his legs over the side of the bed. "Come on, Kitten, there are robes waiting for us…after breakfast."

"I love breakfast; it's my favorite meal of the day." She crawled out of bed and made her way across the room. "I'll meet you down there once I get ready."

"Wait a minute first." He pulled the previous day's sweater over his head and looked around to see that the dorm was empty. "What happened to your father?"

"What do you mean?"



"Last night you were saying something about your father never coming back. I'm just…I really know next to nothing about you, you know."

"Let's walk and talk." She took his hand and led him down the stairs, through the Common Room, out the Portrait Hole and along the corridors.

"I used to love thunders storms." She said quietly as they walked. "My parents and I, and my brother whenever he was home, we would sit out on the covered deck with popcorn and watch the lightening and count how many seconds it took before we heard the thunder. Sometimes my mother and I would dance in the rain. In any case, one night it was storming and we were all watching it, Jake had come home for a week to visit. My father had to go because he had an appointment or something. When he kissed me good bye I asked him why he looked so sad, he just smiled and told me he loved me." She turned to face him and he could see the tears starting to well in her eyes. "I watched him walk off into that storm and I never saw him again. And I could never hear thunder again without being terrified that I was going to lose someone else I care about."

"I'm so sorry." He pulled her into a tight hug.

"Thanks, Sirius. You've been good to me."

"You deserve it."

"Sirius...?"

"Hm?"

"There's a very inviting broom cupboard over there."

"I see, well, let's not keep it waiting."

They visited the lonesome cupboard, went on to breakfast, and then they went shopping with the other Marauders. But before they even broke the hug Sirius vowed that he would help his Kitten watch the lightening again, and he would get her to wear something colourful to graduation.

0O0

A/N

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS I'M SO SORRY!! I wanted to put this up almost two weeks ago, but I didn't realize how much work goes into packing for a trip, then I was on said trip. I've been home for almost a week, but my brothers are both home so it's been nearly impossible to get even five minutes on the internet. I'M SORRY!! I would understand if you review merely to throw/shoot very harmful things at me (not literally of course, because you don't know where I live. Smart of me, huh?)

On the brighter side, I found out who my roomie will be in college. She's from Newfoundland. I found it funny because my bestie is going to Newfoundland and her roommate is from Nova Scotia, which is where I'm going.


	35. Sore Spot

Sirius, James, Katherine, Remus, and Peter were about to walk out the front gates and apparate (some of them side-along) to a nice robe shop that James recommended before heading back to Hogsmeade for some quality entertainment. Kate seriously doubted the quality of the robe shop if James was the one suggesting it, the only one that she would have trusted with finding someplace affordable _and_ tasteful would have been...none of the four people she was keeping company with. Fortunately for her, Sirius was stopped at the gate by Professor McGonagall.

"This was supposed to be brought to your attention days ago but _someone_-" meaning the headmaster "-misplaced the letter in plain sight on their _desk_ thus forcing me to interrupt your plans for the day."

"What, my dearest professor, does said lost letter have to do with me, who I might remind you has been keeping out of trouble quite nicely as of late."

Kate rolled her eyes. He always spoke more elegantly when he was trying to evade detention. The sad thing was that it usually worked.

"It has nothing to do with your permanent record." She clipped. "It seems that your uncle, Alphard Black, has passed away."

"Uncle Alphard was always such a tough old bloke, are you sure that he's dead?" Meaning he was wishing that it was his mother instead.

"I am absolutely certain, Mister Black."

"He was a great man, for a Black."

"I'm sure." She pursed her lips effectively. "The port-key will be leaving shortly for his funeral."

"I'm not sure about this, professor. I want to pay my respects, really, but those people that call themselves 'family' are going to be there and-"

"We all understand your familial relations are a bit...strained at the moment, but he specifically asked for you to be present at his funeral."

"I will be accompanying him." Kate said as she took his hand.

"Well then, right this way." Her eyebrows rose so far they nearly disappeared under her tartan hat. She turned and started off to a point just outside the gates where another figured stood.

"You don't have to do this." Sirius whispered to Kate.

"Sirius, he was your uncle, and he sent a letter to Dumbledore asking for your presence at his funeral. Also, I'm not overly fond of the idea of you and your friends trying to get me into the most ridiculous looking things in whatever two-knut shop James would be taking us to."

"Hey, he can afford the nice places; his family's as rich as mine...almost."

"Yes, but James doesn't have rich tastes; he shops for convenience...and quittich things." She leaned on his shoulder as they walked and started whispering into his ear. "Think of it as part of my wifely duties."

"What else do you have for 'wifely duties'? I'm very curious."

"Well, my dear, let's just say that you've only seen half of it."

"I like my odds." He leaned in closer to her and touched his lips to hers only to be interrupted.

"Couldn't you wait until you're on Alf's casket?" A familiar snarky voice sneered.

"What are you doing here?"

"Sirius, calm down. He was his uncle too." Kate soothed.

"Yeah, Sirius, listen to your cat."

Sirius could have slapped his brother, or he could have punched him. Or he could do nothing and glare at his brother.

"Gentlemen, remember that you are representing Hogwarts while you are gone. That goes for you too, Keaton. You will _behave yourselves_ and _show respect, _do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Professor." They chorused angelically.

"Here is your port-key. You are expected back by curfew." She handed the tarnished antique mirror to Katherine and started back toward the castle.

"Well boys, do you think that we could all pretend for just today, for your uncle, that you two don't know one another?" She knew that it would be impossible to get them to stop hating one another.

They both nodded solemnly and took hold of the mirror just as their port-key took off. Kate felt the familiar hated hook in her gut and the spinning sensation that was so much worse than any carnival ride she had ever been on, which was plenty.

The three of them fell to the ground with their own 'ooph's 'ouch's and 'gaw's.

Katherine stood up and dusted herself off. She heard hushed whispers, and some angry grumbling, and looked up to find what felt like hundreds of eyes on Sirius...and on her.

"Guess McGonagall wasn't lying when she said the port-key was taking us to the funeral." Sirius muttered.

They stood in a room, lit only by a few sconces on the walls, filled with hard-backed wooden chairs (and the people staring at them). On the far wall was a casket, the lid was down, and an elderly wizard who one could only presume was leading the ceremony.

"How _dare_ you show your face in this place?" A female voice shrieked.

"Just came to show my respects to my uncle. Don't worry, we won't stay long." Sirius' voice was even, but the anger he was directing at the woman was palpable.

"You are no longer a part of this family, and as such you have no right to be here." The woman seethed.

"My apologies, mother-" he said the word with such distain "-but I do have a right to be here, and I will stay until Alphard is nice and snug six feet underground." He took Kate's hand and led her to a couple of empty chairs at the very back of the room while Regulus followed his mother to the front row to sit with a man, whom Katherine could only assume was the boys' father.

"And I thought things were bad between my mother and I." She muttered to him.

"Sorry about that, I didn't want to make a scene."

"That would be a first."

The ceremony itself was dull, to be honest. The old wizard conducting the service went on for decades about Alphard's family and blood-status, it was almost sickening. Kate would have rather heard the muggle lies about the deceased being 'in a better place' than the family tree. Nothing was said about Alphard's life, his accomplishments, fond memories of him; it was all about purity and wealth. She could instantly understand why Sirius chose to flee such a toxic environment.

Sirius' anger had hardly dissipated from the encounter with his mother. He fairly radiated contempt through the entire service. Kate took his hand, her fingers entwined with his. She would touch his arm in reassurance, or stroke his hand soothingly. He was grateful that she had gone with him or he might have pulled his wand out of his pocket and thrown a few good hexes at the most deserving of his 'family' before making a hasty retreat. Kitten held his wand hand though, so he would have to settle with his imagination. He had taken to staring at either the back of either of his parents' heads and hoping that they would eventually combust. Unfortunately the only flames were the ones flickering on the candles in the wall sconces.

After the ceremony, three men levitated the coffin and the room emptied into a funeral procession to a cemetery outside. Katherine and Sirius brought up the rear. Once the casket was lowered into the grave and buried everyone trickled back into the building. Sirius stayed behind.

He stared at the fresh mound of dirt, his hands shoved in his pockets as he kicked the ground. He was lost, and more than a bit confused. Kate stood unobtrusively to the side, not knowing what she should do.

"Why would he want me here?" He asked no one in particular. "I left; I'm not part of this family. Was it to torture me somehow, or to get back at my mother for something?"

"It doesn't matter now, you came and you stayed for the whole thing. We can stay as long as you like, or we can leave right now if you want to." "I'm sorry I forced you to come. I can see know why you didn't love the idea."

Sirius turned around and looked at her.

"If I didn't come I would have always wondered. I know that you'll make it up to me; there's still time to get you something pink and frilly."

"We will never have enough time to shop for something pink and frilly." Her tone was icy. "I'm open to something classy though. Well, not too classy, I have my new reputation to uphold."

"What new reputation?"

"As a complete floozy, of course." She laughed and wrapped her arms around her husband's neck, enjoying thinking the word 'husband'.

"Mister Black!" Someone called from the building, which upon closer inspection was not much to behold. Forgetting about the voice, because there were at least three other 'Mister Black's attending; Sirius lowered his face to the lovely specimen in front of him. Naturally, he was interrupted.

"Mister Black, your presence is requested inside."

"I'm sure you have the wrong Black." Sirius fairly growled. He wanted to finish what he had started.

"No, sir. It says here that Sirius Black is to be in attendance when the will is read." The young man was of average height with a very slight frame. When Sirius finally looked at him he had to hold his breath. "My apologies for interrupting, sir." He cough into his fist and looked at the two of them nervously. "You need to be there, I give my word that it will only take a moment of your time."

"Fine, there isn't much else that we have to do." He muttered as he started for the building.

"Don't mind him," Kate said to the man, "family is a bit of a sore spot for him." She jogged to catch up to him and smiled. "Cheer up, Sirius, we'll be out of here soon enough."

He chose not to answer her.

The small room that the service had been held in had been completely transformed by the time that Sirius and Katherine got there. The walls were a soft buttery yellow with bouquets of purple flowers hung where the wall sconces were, natural light shone through the windows. The small hard-backed chairs had been replaced with plush armchairs and where the deceased had lain stood a large wooden desk with many important looking documents on it, and a few elegant quills stood in stands along the front of it next to their own inkpots.

Once again, they sat at the back of the room, making no eye contact with anyone present. The slight young man that had interrupted them entered the room behind an important looking middle-aged wizard. The older man sat on the other side of the desk and scanned the room.

"You have all been requested here today for the reading of the will of one Alphard Black. The requests and conditions of this will are legal, binding and final. Any grievances any of you may have can be swallowed promptly, because nothing is going to change no matter how much you yell, scream, or 

otherwise carry on." He shuffled a few papers and Kate stifled a laugh; the man obviously knew what he was getting himself into. "Shall I continue?"

Everyone in the room nodded enthusiastically, it was no longer a wonder why so many people had arrived at the funeral. It was common knowledge that Alphard was a very rich man and everyone wanted a piece of his fortune.

"Then I shall read. '_I, Alphard Black, being of sound health of mind as of this fifteenth of May, nineteen-seventy-six, do allow-' _the rest is just for legal purposes so I think that I will just skip over that unless anyone has any objections." Nobody did. "_'To my sister, Walburga Black, and her husband I leave the Black Family Tree tapestry that she has been fond of since childhood. I leave to my youngest nephew, Regulus Black, my villa in Southern France. I would advise him to use it well and to take a page out of my book; the locals are very friendly. My best house-elf, Blinkin, goes to Jacqueline Raubichaud, who resides in the south of France._'"

The rest of the reading went on and on for longer than the 'moment of your time' that the young man had promised Sirius. Everyone was getting more on edge as things were given away. More and more family members and guests received their inheritance, some things were big like Regulus' villa, and some were small like the tea set given to Narcissa.

Suddenly, the older wizard paused (for dramatic effect to be sure) and looked around the room before he continued.

"'_Finally, what I know you have all been sitting in such a tiny room waiting for, my vault at Gringott's. I leave it and all of its contents to the rightful heir of the Black fortune, Sirius Black.'_"

The lawyer sat back in his chair and closed his eyes to drown out the out-raged cries of all but two people in the room.

"Now, now, people, there is only one man who can change this, and he is freshly buried. So, unless you can bring back the dead, I suggest you all just take what you were given and suck it up." He stood up and gestured an arm toward the door. "Good day to you all."

0O0

Author's Note

This is out a bit later than I wanted, I curse me. So yeah...that's about all I have to say...other than the fact that I'm moving off to school in a week. I'm hoping that the stability of a schedule might give me a more constant update schedule, but we all know how well my hopes work against me. Grrrr...

Just so that everyone knows, the position of the girl that was with Sirius on Slughorn's desk has been filled by anyavioletta. Her audition was amazing, you all saw it, when she was in the broom cupboard with Sirius.

Also, special thanks to Notes-and-Photographs for letting me use Leonard the flying unicorn with the purple handle-bar mustache...and for telling em how to get rid of those pesky squares!

I'm done now. Tell me what you thought if you want to!


	36. Tomfoolery

"Are you trying to tell me that all of that gold goes to that blood-traitor

"Are you trying to tell me that all of that gold goes to that blood-traitor?!" Walburga screeched. "That filthy little blood-traitor and his half-blood tramp?!"

"Of course not ma'am." The lawyer sounded rather chipper. "Some of it is silver, and some is bronze, and I do believe that there are some jewels as well. And whether or not Mister Black shares his inheritance with the young lady is completely up to him."

"This is an outrage! A disgrace!" She roared again. Other people started to chime in as well. They stood up and started to converge at the desk, smothering the man with their proximity and their complaints. While they stormed the poor man the Black family managed to topple over most of the chairs in the room, and a few tables.

In all of the confusion, Kate and Sirius were somehow separated. She tried to find him through the massive amount of bodies and upset furniture, but she couldn't see him anywhere. She felt a tug on her elbow and was pulled from the crowd.

"Sirius I-" She cut herself off once she realized that it wasn't her husband that had helped her.

"You're welcome." Regulus smirked his damn Slytherin smirk. "You are one lucky girl, Keaton. You had better hope he shares with you. Not that I think you'll have any problems with that one, just bat your eyelashes and he'll be willing to do anything for his 'dearly beloved'."

"What is that supposed to mean?" She hissed at him.

"What's what supposed to mean? Excuse me; I have a French villa to enquire about." He smirked even more annoyingly, if it was possible, before walking out the door; thus leaving Kate more than a bit confused and quite nervously alone.

She walked around the room, still looking for Sirius. She couldn't very well leave without him considering the fact that she didn't know where she was. Never mind the ethical issues involved with leaving your husband in a room full of people who would happily and willingly hex him into a lovely coma.

"There you are, I've been looking everywhere for you." She heard Sirius' voice from behind her. She turned around, grabbed his hand, and marched them both out the door. Once outside she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"It seems that you're a rich man, Mister Black." She whispered into his ear.

"What's mine is yours." He whispered back.

"Sorry to interrupt such a touching moment." They broke apart to look at the middle-aged lawyer who was standing beside them while the angry mob was still converged at his desk. "Alphard left me this to give to you also, I hope that it serves you well." He handed Sirius a thick-looking envelope and disapparated.

"Do you want to leave?" He asked once he stuffed the envelope unceremoniously into his pocket.

"Yes, please." She tightened her grip on his neck and nodded to him that she was ready.

In an instant they were gone from the loud little room and were instead standing outside a very expensive looking hotel.

"Where are we?" Kate asked slowly.

"It's already past curfew; the gates will be locked. Besides, we should be celebrating his new development. Now, let me offer you a nice glass of champagne while you soak in the biggest tub you've ever seen."

"Will there be bubbles?" She asked innocently.

"There will be so many bubbles that I won't even be able to find you for all the bubbles."

"Sounds like fun. Have you ever thought about what a funny word 'bubble' is? Think about it for a minute. How many other words are there out there that sound unusual?"

"Quite a few. My favourite would have to be 'lollygagging'."

"That's a good one. What about 'fisticuffs'?"

"Tomfoolery."

"Dungarees."

"Bellhop."

"That's a really good one."

"No, I mean there's a bellhop heading over and we have no bags."

"That's too bad. Do we still tip him?"

"We don't have to, but a few Knuts won't hurt break the bank."

"Shouldn't you check to see exactly how much you have before you start spending it all?"

"I know that there's enough for at least one night in a night hotel as opposed to the Hog's Head. I should probably contact the school and tell them why we won't be there until tomorrow evening."

"Tomorrow evening?"

"We still need robes for graduation and I doubt that we'll get another chance. The worst they could do is give us detention; it's too close to graduation to expel us."

"You're such an opportunist."

"Shall we take this opportunity to check in?"

0O0

About an hour later Kate was in the enormous tub in their hotel room. She had taken at least fifteen minutes to open every bottle of bubble bath that lined the shelf over the taps, she took her time sniffing them and testing a small amount in the running water. Once she was done testing she laughed as she dumped in the bottle of vanilla scented bubbles, then the bottle of purple bubbles that smelled like lilacs.

She took her time splashing around and frolicking in her own vanilla lilac utopia. Then Sirius walked through the door. He had been admiring the rest of the room while she ran to the bathroom to have her promised bath.

"Kitten, why is the floor, and everything on it, so...aqueous."

"It was like that when I got here?"

"These are the only clothes you have and they're soaked."

"Are, or are you not, an of-age wizard?"

"Oh, right then."

"It's hard to believe that I was the one raised by a muggle."

"Be nice to me, unless you don't like champagne or chocolate fondue."

"You know I love anything bubbly, alcoholic, or involving chocolate." She thought for a moment while she let herself drift with the current in the colossal bathtub. "And sex, I like sex too."

"Really, you just 'like' it?"

"Well, I haven't been getting much lately." She replied airily.

"Oh really, is that a challenge?" She chose to stay silent, so Sirius chose to jump into the bath with her.

Naturally, she drifted away from him. And naturally, he tried to get a hold of her. Of course they went around the tub playing cat and mouse. More water splashed onto the floor as Sirius lunged to close the gap between them. His hand started to slip from her arm, so he slipped the other one around her waist and pulled her to him.

"Well, this is odd." She said casually as he pressed her between the edge of the tub and his chest.

"What's so odd about it?"

"I'm usually the one doing the seducing."

"Ah, but you see I'm the one making you seduce me. I am an expert at making women want me."

"Well, maybe you can make some other woman want you tonight then." She pushed him away in his moment of shock and slid out of the tub and stalked out the door.

Well, that was her plan. As the floor was so aqueous she found herself suddenly without anything under her feet and the floor was rushing to meet the back of her poor skull. Just as suddenly, she was back on the tub, with a queasy feeling, sitting on Sirius' lap while he stroked her upper arm.

"How did you-"

"Am I, or am I not, an of-age wizard?" He grinned. "I passed my apparition test a few weeks ago. Have I told you lately that you're bloody gorgeous?" He mumbled into hair behind her ear.

"No, I don't believe that you have. Do go on."

"You are the most beautiful woman that I've ever had the privilege of laying my eyes upon, let alone the things that we've-"

Of course she didn't let him finish his sentence. Why should his lips move like that when she wanted him to kiss her anyway?

0O0

"Sirius...?" A very groggy Kitten woke up the next morning with a slight headache, a fair bit of confusion. "Sirius, why am I covered in chocolate?"

"A bottle of champagne will do that to a person, love." Sirius, having significantly less to drink (though he was still thoroughly drunk) still remembered just about everything that had happened, but was just as happy to let her try to guess for herself. "Would you like another bath before we are forced to go shopping?"

"Shopping? But why?" She pouted and hid her face under the covers. "These are really soft."

"We have to go shopping because you aren't allowed to go to graduation naked. I wouldn't complain...actually I would because everyone else would get to see _this_ and I'm not so fond of sharing." He pulled the blankets away from her and smirked as she curled into the fatal position. "So, shall I run the bath or will you be going out sticky?"

"Give me bubbles, or give you death." She muttered into the pillow. "And maybe a hangover tonic while you're at it."

Sirius laughed and went on with his task.

A few hours later they found themselves at a large robe shop. Most of the attendants ignored them. Two were following them around to makes sure that they didn't steal anything but they never offered any help. Kate was starting to get annoyed with the knowing looks that said things along the lines of 'she's a slut and he's a sucker'.

"These dresses are nice, Sirius, but they're too expensive for my taste." She raised a brow and motioned with her head to the middle-aged witch peeking around a rack of frilly pink nightmare-dresses at them as though they were something smelly on the bottom of her shoe.

"Not too expensive, darling, just too stuck up. I saw another place down the street, maybe they have what we're looking for." He took her hand and led her through the store to the door that led to freedom.

As they left the store Sirius put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her closer, causing her to dump his pocket and the coins therein to jingle. As he casually looked back at the attendants their faces said it all, and hopefully they as idiotic as they looked.

0O0

PLEASE FORGIVE MEEEEEEE!! I am so freaking sorry! I got to college and there is seriously no time to write! It's all about classes, homework, or late-night pizza. I swear to god these guys are going to get me so fat my family won't recognize me come Thanksgiving.

Sadly, I can't promise that it won't happen again. I'm SUPPOSED to be working on an essay draft for English right now, but this was an ultimately better option. :P Just know that I missed you all so much it hurt, so tell me how the heck you're doing so that I know that you haven't fallen off the face of the earth! Love you all!

The Poet's Muse


	37. A Flash Of Green

It took Sirius five minutes to find something to wear to the graduation ceremonies, and it took Kate five hours. When they finally walked through the front door with their packages they were faced with a rather strict-looking McGonagall - more strict-looking than usual, it should be noted.

"You were expected before curfew last night, Mister Black, Miss Keaton."

"My apologies, ma'am. There was no way that we would have been able to get robes for graduation otherwise and the Will reading went on past curfew anyway." Sirius said bluntly. Kate just about slapped him. She wasn't in a good mood in the first place, place that on top of the way he was basically begging for trouble...she just wanted to sleep for the rest of the day.

"Regardless of when the reading ended, you should have made more of an effort, Black. Arrangements could have been made for you to go shopping at another date." The professor looked down at them sternly.

"Not to mention that James was probably lost without your helpful little nudges in the wrong direction." Kate mumbled.

And then, as though on cue...

"Sirius!!" James ran out of nowhere and tackled his partner in crime into a tight hug. "Where were you? We were so worried! We kept asking professor McGonagall but all she did was-oh, hello professor."

"Potter." The professor nodded stiffly.

"James, please stop hugging me." Sirius managed to choke out.

"Sorry mate, it was bloody dull her without you." Potter quickly let go and started bouncing on the balls of his feet. "So, what were you up to?"

"Nice to see you too, James." Katherine muttered. Her outlook had been rather dark since Sirius had dragged her into at least thirty different shops to find the 'perfect dress'. She no longer wondered why she didn't feel the need for any female friends. ('_Oh! Try this one on!' 'Look at the beading on that one!' 'This is a nice colour on you!'_)

"Hey Kate, didn't see you there, you don't usually mope like that. When did your hair get so long? It's always been long but it seems longer all of a sudden. How was your trip?"

As in nature, an annoyingly upbeat creature can drive the sanest creature to murder when in a foul mood. However, Katherine squared her shoulders and simply walked away. As much as she wanted to, she could never hurt James, especially when it seemed that he was finally done mourning Lily, but she couldn't be kind to him either – or anyone for that matter - at that moment. She walked away.

Something wasn't right, she could feel it. If it was her, she couldn't tell. She felt unwell, but not actually sick. Something just wasn't right. Something momentous was going to happen, and soon.

0O0

_Finally, it was happening; they were graduating. They had paraded through the Grand Hall in their formal gowns, all of their professors and family members watched with pride. They sat down on their little wooden chairs in the first three rows and waited while the awards and scholarships were handed out, and a few speeches were spoken. Eventually they were called up, one by one, and given a piece of parchment while their pictures were taken by relatives and the young photographer for the Daily Prophet._

_The photographer sighed as she snapped another shot of another student graduating. It wasn't even two years before that she had graduated herself. She had taken some time to figure herself out and then decided to take the job at the Prophet for a chance to see something exciting, to be thrust into situations that would make her think about her place, maybe to move people with her photographs, or at least to know what was actually going on. As it was, the higher ups had put her on wedding after wedding, with the occasional ministry council meeting, which was twice as boring as it sounded. So she continued snapping photos of the little brats that had high hopes about the future, their futures, because she had nothing better to do with her Friday afternoon anyway. (Har har)_

_Another former student climbed the stairs and cross the small platform to Professor Dumbledore and accepted the handshake and the rolled up parchment. She lifted her camera to snap another picture of another graduate with another smile...and the room started to tremble._

_People started to look around, some stood up to get a better look at what was going on. Children stood on their chairs, parents looked concerned, everyone was restlessly moving – though not actually going anywhere – and whispering to their neighbours. Some people reached into their pockets to feel their wands against their fingers for reassurance._

_Suddenly, the North wall exploded. Large chunks of the stone wall flew into the crowd, hitting people and possibly killing some. As the dust settled various figures in black cloaks could be seen entering the Great Hall. Though there were no faces, and no eyes, it was clear who they were. They were the essence of fear in their world, the reason for chaos, panic and suffering. Death Eaters. And heading the group was a lone figure, tall and slim, that radiated the sincerest evil._

_Lord Voldemort._

0O0

When Lily went into the bathroom the next morning she hadn't expected to see what she saw. Kate was lying on the floor next to the toilet, breathing heavily. Lily could see that she was probably asleep from her occasional murmuring.

"Katie!" Lily cried.

Kate's head jerked from the floor, and she immediately twisted so that her head was over the toilet. Lily watched in dismay as she heaved all that was in her already empty stomach.

"Oh, Katie, are you alright?" She rushed to her side and smoothed her estranged friend's tangled hair. Once she was done, Kate stood up on shaky legs and headed for the sink to wash her face.

"I suppose that you wouldn't believe me if I said that I was fine. No?" She managed a sarcastic smile in the mirror. "I've been doing this since a little after one this morning. That was about the ninth time...after the third I gave up on going back to bed."

"Maybe you should go see madam Pomfrey." Lily said softly as she dabbed a cool damp cloth on Kate's forehead.

"Yeah, maybe I should..." she took a few steps to the door and stumbled. She quickly steadied herself using the wall and looked back at Lily. "I don't think I'll be able to make it."

"I'll help, don't worry." Lily put her shoulder under her friend's and helped her out of the bathroom and down the stairs.

It was a struggle for the two girls just to get down the stairs to the common room. Kate was hardly able to stay standing, and Lily couldn't really hold her up as well as she had hoped. The only reason that they made it down the stairs at all was because Kate was able to hold on to the railing for additional support. Once they were off of the stairs Kate fell, hard, taking Lily down with her.

"Can't say that I was expecting that. Are you alright, Kate?" Lily said as she dusted herself off. There was no answer. "Kate?" She looked at her and froze. "Kate?!" She was unconscious on the floor.

"Oh no, oh no, oh no. What do I do? What do I do?" She fell to the floor and started checking her friend's vitals. She was breathing, and her heart was beating, but she was so warm to the touch. She was so intent on Kate that she didn't notice the sound of someone coming closer to her.

"Merlin, what happened?" Lily spun around to see Remus.

"Oh Remus, we were going to see madam Pomfrey. She's been running a fever – Kate has I mean, not madam Pomfrey – I was going to the loo when I saw her in there and she looked so terrible, you can see that I mean just look at her, but then she passed out and now I need your help."

"Lily, honestly you have spent too much time with her." The werewolf bent down and carefully lifted up his fallen comrade. "Does this mean that the two of you have made up, then?"

"I honestly don't know. I have yet to apologize, and I wouldn't blame her if she chose not to forgive me. And then there's James." She sighed as they stepped through the portrait hole.

"James?" He urged her.

"I know that it was a stupid reason to dump him, I do, but at the same time it has given me time to think about things and reassess what I'm doing with myself. I should apologize to him too, but I haven't figured everything out yet and I think that he at least deserves the explanation." She paused for a moment as they walked along the deserted corridors. "Why were you out of bed at such a time?"

"I, um, I heard something from the common room and decided to see what it was. As it turns out, it was you. Now aren't you grateful?" He teased lightly, but she still saw the marks on his neck just under his collar.

"Yes, I suppose that I am. I am very worried about her though." They headed down the hall; he carried the body, she opened and closed the doors behind them.

"Remus?" He grunted in response. "Thanks. For this and for listening. Don't tell James?"

"That will be up to you, when you're ready." He reassured her.

0O0

_The Death Eaters had come into the room full force, but the professors, students, and parents were quick to act. The fighting was deadly; bodies littered the floor as people scrambled to find their families and get them out as safely as possible._

_The photographer raised her camera to the gaping hole in the wall and started taking pictures. If she was going to die, she had every intention of dying famous. She took picture after picture of the battle, her camera never stilled for longer than a second._

_Suddenly, a fight broke out right on front of her. She took a step back and started taking more pictures. She hoped that she would be able to capture the intensity on the young fighter's face as he took on his masked enemy. His dark brow furrowed in concentration and she felt that she had seen him somewhere before. She gasped; he looked in her direction with wide eyes. He hadn't seen her there. A jet of green light shot from the Death Eater's wand. He fell. She stared at his lifeless eyes and started to weep as the murderer let out a dark and feminine cackle. The Death Eater then turned her attentions to the young woman holding the camera._

_A flash of green..._

0O0

Author's Note! YAY!

Hi...I missed you all. ^///^ sorry that I've only updated once since September, it was very unfair to you as my readers. I suppose that you can thank the Spring break for this update (I will admit that mine is rather early)...and maybe the next one if I actually manage to update again....Sorry I'm being a downer tonight guys. I don't know what's going on with me. Maybe it's that guy...? Or maybe I miss my school buddies...I'm rambling. Wow, it is so nice to be able to type my ramblings again! xD


	38. The Little Black Dot

Katherine sat up with a start. It had been a dream. There was no Avada, no one was dead. Graduation wasn't for a while yet, anyhow. It had felt so real. She sighed, closed her eyes and fell back onto the bed. She was feeling a bit dizzy, and the sheets didn't feel as soft as the ones that were usually on her bed, her room smelled different too.

Slowly, she opened her eyes again and looked around. White. Great, once again she was stuck in the hospital wing, only this time she had no idea why. She buried her face into the pillow and groaned. She still felt like a hippogriff had chosen to trample her, multiple times. Her head was pounding and spinning, and her whole body was throbbing.

"You're finally awake!" She turned her head and saw a very tired-looking Remus Lupin sitting in a chair by her bed.

"Hey, Rem. What am I doing here?"

"Lily found you early yesterday morning on the floor in the bathroom...you were running a ridiculously high fever by the time we got you here. We were really worried about you, Kate." He looked her dead in the eyes and she saw the strain on his face.

"When was the last full-moon?"

"I was just getting back from it when I found you and Lily in the common room." He whispered, as though it were a sin for him to even be alive.

She scrunched up her face in worry. She loved Remus, and she hated to see him so down on himself. Besides, she knew how he usually ended up looking after a transformation.

"It wasn't a bad night, actually. I hardly hurt myself at all."

"Oh good, I hate seeing you hurt like that."

"I have to say that the feeling is completely mutual, my friend. Madam Pomfrey will want to know that you're awake." He smiled that shy, endearing smile and went off to go tell the nurse that she was awake and find the rest of their friends.

0O0

Sirius was beside himself. Not only had he been unable to locate that girl that he had practically revolved around all year, but Remus had also yet to be heard from and the full moon was the night before and he refused to allow them to go with him. Of course it didn't stop them, but he was not at the Shreiking Shack as he was expected to.

He was worried about both of his friends...though 'friend' was not a word that he easily assoctiated with Kitten.

He had sat through a whole day of classes and hadn't taken in a word in any of them. He impatiently tapped his quill against the table top, and his knee had not stopped bouncing in anticipation of the end of his final class so that he could consult the Marauder's Map concerning their where-abouts.

Transfiguration ended, late as usual. For once, though, MacGonagall's ire was not brought on by him. It was the rest of the class that had become infected with what she called 'senioritis'. Apparently the same thing happened every year, the graduating class saw their freedom looming before them and slacked off with their studies in favour of pre-graduation partying and tom-fooleries. So, in order to keep her students from acting in such a degreding manner, she held them in late, and gave them extra assignments. It really was a dream come true. (Note the dripping sarcasm.)

Sirius bolted from the room and down the hall. He slammed the portrait open and jumped though the hole as though he thought that if he ran even faster then she would be there, on one of the couches maybe, smiling at him and telling him that she just decided to sleep in after their weekend adventure. Somehow he knew that such a thing would not happen, but worst of all, he had a feeling that it was much worse than a simple missed alarm.

Sadly, the only thing in the common room was a few empty chairs and couches, as well as a couple of sixth years that had probably just finished doing something that their dear mothers would have frowned upon.

_'More power to them.'_ Sirius thought as the blonde girl blushed and tried to fix her hair in a small mirror. '_Would be a bit of a hypocrite if I thought otherwise, wouldn't I?'_

He took the steps to the dorm two at a time. He riffled through Peter's trunk to find the map. Normally, they trusted importsant things to Remus, but they didn't want him to be implicated should the map be found by someone else, and James already had the invisibility cloak, and Sirius could not be trusted not to ruin something like that in his haste to the nearest piece of tail in a broom cupboard somewhere.

He had seen the way his friends had been looking at him since he had stayed with her over the Christmas holidays. Those looks they gave that meant 'I'm worried about you' and 'I'm gald you seem happy' all in one. Once they found out that she was engaged they had been more worried, but once that was overwith they seemed pleased with the development...generally speaking. Perhaps they were hoping that she would force him to settle down, mature, grow up, take responsibility, enter a serious relationship, but he highly doubted that he would do any of those things any time within the near future.

"I solomnly swear that I am up to no good." He murmurred at the blank scrap of parchment. The school appeared in a series of lines and dots, soon after that the people appeared. It was much too slow for Sirius' tastes, but he had always been impatient.

He scanned the map mercilessly, his eyes roaving over every square inch, carefully scanning the tine little names that accompanied the tiny little dots. He saw Remus by the hospital wing, good thing he wasn't _in _the hospital wing.

And then he saw it; the little black dot that he had been looking for amongst hundreds. It shouldn't have taken his breath away when he saw that familiar scrawl in the hospital wing. It wasn't the fact that she was in the hospital wing, it wasn't _just _the fact that she was in the hospital wing (at least there she would be acceptably alive and breathing); the little black letters in the little black frame that pointed to the little black dot that represented _her_...how could they do that to him?

He sat the map on Peter's bed and took off down the stairs and out the portrait hole once again.

0O0

"What do you mean?" Katherine's voice cracked under the strain of what the nurse had told her.

"I'm sorry dear," she patted the younger woman's arm in flase reassurance, "but all of the tests tell me the same thing. The is no denying what this is."

"I don't care." She muttered darkly. "Nothing is going to change this."

"That is correct but there are potions to help ease your discomfort."

"I'll deal with this, don't worry about me. All I ask is that you don't tell anyone. I will be long gone from here soon enough, if my luck decides to improve even marginally. I don't want to see that look in their eyes when they talk to me." The same look that they all gave her at her father's funeral, and her mother's, that look that haunted her when she was 'engaged'; that damndable pity that everyone seemed to have for her at some point or another. Pity was one thing she could most certainly do without.

"Kitten?" She looked over to the door and saw and very out of breath Sirius, with a rather distressed Remus trying to get him to be quiet.

"Hey." She smiled weakly. Madam Pomfrey gave them each a pointed look and walked back to a drawn curtain at the other end of the wing. Katherine just hoped that they had not heard the previous conversation.

"What happened?" He closed the curtains then sat down beside her on the bed and let his gaze travel over her face. She looked tired and a bit pale, but other than that relatively unharmed. He tucked a piece of hair behind her ear and she leaned into his hand. "Did someone hurt you?"

"No, no, nothing like that." She pulled him over to her and made him lie down so that she could lean into his chest. She felt the need to be close to him all of a sudden. "It was nothing, just the flu or something."

"Are you sure you're alright?" He ran his fingers through her hair. "You have been sick a few times this year."

"I've always had a low immune system." She snuggled farther into his chest and sighed. "I just need lots and lots of rest, okay?" She mumbled childishly.

"Sure thing, you just sleep. I'll be here when you wake up."

0O0

Peter had a few ideas as to where the other Marauders were off to once he saw the empty dormitiry. He suspected that Remus was probably either visiting Madam Pomfrey or the library. James had Quittich practice, and Sirius was probably off fondling some floozy or another.

Hoping to find Sirius in the act of adultery, thus exposing him to Katherine and gaining her affection and graditude, Peter looked through his truck for the Marauders' Map. It wasn't that he had anything against Sirius, it was just that he was standing in the way of something that Peter wanted.

Naturally, he only found the map on his bed after already searching the trunk for fifteen minutes and tossing its contents in various directions. He searched the map for his quary and sighed when he saw that they were together. They were always together.

He growled and tossed the map back on the bed, but he didn't clear it. He needed the reminder, he supposed, that she was not with him and that she would never be his. That name, that damndable name that tore a chunk from his chest and then threw it in his face. That name...

_Katherine Black_.

0O0

Author's Note

So...here it is, the next chapter. I think that this is all an atempt at an appology on my part to all of you for taking so long. However, I think that I am going to have to put this story on...oh God this is so hard to say...I have to put the story on hiatus! [Sobbing ensues] Don't worry, it's not forever! (I hope) I am just doing this so that I can focus on school with the rediculous assignments and weekly labs and what-not. And then, in my spare time, I will finish up this story...even though it is nowhere near done. I shall work my very hardest when I get the chance! I will type my fingers to the bone for you the next break I get, I swear!!!!!!


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